Crucicrux
by lordtrayus
Summary: With Chantique and Bar'injar dead, Zayne and Jarael are hunting down the last of the Crucible. Little do they know Zayne's dubious grasp on the Force is about to cause even more trouble than ever before. Cameos from the Exile, Revan, Malak and more!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars**

Crucicrux

The stilted city of Daragoon was silent, the night completely lacking in all light. The stars were blocked by dark, stormy clouds, and all of the hardy farmers on the world had retreated to the safety of their fireplaces to get warm. Beneath them, the muggy, thick swamp that led to the city being built on stilts was mostly silent, with only the occasional animal braying loudly from the quagmire.

Farmers made up the vast majority of the world's population. The rest were traders of hunters who liked to hunt the various poisonous and otherwise lethal creatures that lived within the swamps of the world. These animals made farming a constant struggle, as they frequently came into the kelp and algae farms, scenting the humanoids that worked them, trying to score a tasty meal.

The city itself though was made up of traders of all sorts, and also due to the position of Dagary Minor to the embattled Mandalorian front, mercenaries. However, as in war times, there were even more unsavoury types on this quiet world. Small, at the edge of the Inner Rim, this world had avoided being chosen as a staging point by the Republic forces, but not by much. Despite not being a Republic staging point, there was a palpable tension in the air. While the armies of Mandalore did not usually go up against farm worlds, thinking they weren't worth their time, Dagary Minor was a different matter entirely, purely because of the lethal animals living in the swamps, and due to a conclave of mercenaries declaring in the press that they had been hired to defend the world, and boasted that the Mandalorians would not conquer them. While everyone knew that an action like that was asking for trouble, the fact that the Republic had also promised reinforcements certainly helped embolden the mercenaries, the locals and the Mandalorians, who had recently dismantled an entire Republic task force with about two ships and one fighter squadron. Needless to say, the Admiralty had hushed that one up well.

On one of the circular platforms that made Daragoon look like a deformed clover plant, an ugly little ship rested, its lights dimmed. Looking like a box with scaffolding and drills attached, it was idling on the platform, unnoticed by any, except for perhaps its ugliness, with the _Quartermaster_ class supply ship looking sleek, new and beautiful beside it, it looked incredibly woebegone.

However, inside was a different matter. After months of extensive repair and cleaning by the Trandoshan Slyssk, the ship was finally worthy for living in. And the two beings that inhabited it were totally oblivious to the tension going on outside their ship.

In one of the crew quarters, a young man's arm was draped across a beautiful Arkanian woman. Her skin was white, as was her hair, and ornate blue tattoos marked her face, shoulders and arms. Her ears were pointed, pointing to her mysterious heritage as a member of the evil scientist Demagol's attempts to create Jedi for the Mandalorians. Lithe, and beautiful, she was clad in a deep blue gown as she slept, her head resting against her companion's shoulder.

Her companion was just about the same height as she was. He had brown hair, which reached to just above his neck without actually being too long, and it was now straight, having lost its curliness with age, roughly styled slightly to the back, and swept to the side. Formerly thin and reedy, months on the run over the last year had developed some muscle on him, leading to him developing some strong upper body features. Having finally gotten rid of the awkwardness of his teenage years, he was now a fit, strong young man. He muttered a little as his companions hand stroked across his bare chest, and then suddenly his eyes snapped open.

Carefully, so as to not wake his sleeping girlfriend, he slowly reached to the stand beside their bed, and felt the reassuring presence of his lightsaber, cool against his skin. He then saw the door open, and a second later he leapt from the bed, ignoring Jarael's yelp of shock as the momentum knocked her off, his blue lightsaber slicing through the blaster that had entered the room first. The assailant on the other end gave a yelp of surprise as the door opened fully, and Zayne collected the Force, and blew the large hulking assailant back with a Force push. The heavyset assassin slammed to the ground as Zayne leapt into the corridor, and he saw they were facing a Sanyassan, a tall hulking black skinned brute with a skeletal face, glowing red eyes and a very brutal temperament. The intruder roared and charged at Zayne, but he suddenly gave a howl of pain and shock as Jarael slammed her shockstaff into the brute's gut. He stumbled, and Zayne cleaved the vibrodagger he had pulled on them in two. Jarael then kicked the intruder hard in the face, making him stagger, and Zayne darted forward, his lightsaber nicking the tendons in the brute's arms and legs, and with an aggrieved cry he fell to the ground in a heap, and Jarael zapped him again with her staff to shut him up.

"Sorry I woke you." Zayne said tiredly, yawning and working some of the knots out of his hair with his fingers.

Jarael smiled at him lightly, then kissed his cheek.

"Well, as your jump knocked me out of the bed, I didn't really have much choice in the matter." She said tartly, and Zayne grinned a little.

"Yeah, I didn't mean for that to happen. Well, seeing as he's got Crucible tattoos, you reckon we're in the right place?" he asked, bending down to survey their prisoner, and he did indeed have blue tattoos running up and down his body.

The Crucible was a powerful, brutal and vicious slaving group. Jarael had been kidnapped from her school as a child and had been put into the barbaric fighting pits that the Crucible utilised, creating pain and fighting for their own sake. However, they had recently decapitated the evil organisation. Jarael's tormentor, Chantique, the leader of the Sanyassans, Bar'injar and the evil doctor Demagol, had all been killed back where it had all began on Osadia a few months before after their hiding place had been discovered. Since then, Zayne and Jarael had been tracking down every part of the Crucible they could find, and had come to Dagary Minor to find out how much of an operation they had going on here. With the Republic and the Jedi caught up with the Mandalorian Wars, it was up to them to take up the slack and protect the little people.

"I'd say so. How did he find us though, you reckon he followed us, or he spotted us?" she asked softly, as she watched Zayne use the Force to levitate him to a store cupboard so they could interrogate him when he woke up.

"I don't know, but that was close. We'll scout the place tomorrow, see what we can find out. And if it's too dangerous, we back off." He reasoned, and then dumped the assassin on the floor, before using a couple of sets of handcuffs that were used for multiple purposes to tie him to a sewage pipe.

Jarael frowned as he tied the brute up. The ease in which the Crucible had found them was worrying. Very worrying.

"It'll be alright babe, we'll wake him up now and interrogate him to find out how he found us if you want." Zayne said, and she nodded, and Zayne used the Force to bring a robe from their room, covering himself, then he crouched down and nudged the assassin awake.

"How did you find us?" Zayne asked sharply, his eyes boring into the Sanyassans, bringing the Force to bear.

He offered little resistance, but whether due to Zayne's power in the Force or the looming threat of Jarael's shockstaff, he didn't know.

"A bounty on your head. The Crux want you found and dead, you killed the two leaders. Every overseer in the Crucible is looking for you. We don't want you to destroy any more of our organisation." He grumbled, and Zayne looked up at Jarael questioningly.

Correctly guessing his question, she explained.

"The Crux is the leadership of the Crucible. There's five of them, and between them they command the slaves and the raids. Chantique was the overall leader of the Crucible, probably like Vandar's in charge of the Jedi Council. Bar'injar was the second in command, in charge of the security of the group. Another one is in charge of creating the skyreaper drones, another is in charge of locations and the other one is in charge of methods, intelligence and stuff. They're all Magisters like Chantique was, but less powerful. And with her gone, the other three members of the Crux must have taken over the organisation." She explained, and then their captive began a deep, grunting laugh.

"What's so funny?" Zayne demanded, his voice and eyes steely.

The assassin snorted.

"You're a fool to come here if you truly seek the Crucible. Dagary Minor will be your doom." He gloated, and Jarael narrowed her eyes, crouching down to look at him.

"How? Do they know we're here already?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"Not as far as I know. I only saw you when you closed your ship, but I didn't think to alert the base here."

A base? They might be in over their heads. But why else would...oh no.

"One of the Crux is here aren't they?" Zayne asked, and Jarael hissed in fury.

The Sanyassan boomed with laughter, his tone mocking as Zayne and Jarael looked worriedly at one another.

"Yes dolt. The Magister Seeker is here. Delakinn. The Umbaran." He hooted with laughter, and Jarael abruptly stood and left the closet, and Zayne, after sending the brute to sleep, followed her.

"The Magister Seeker? I take it he's in charge of finding new locations?" Zayne asked, and she nodded, her face impassive.

"Yes. Another one of the Crux is here. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a brilliant opportunity, but still...Zayne, he'll have loads of security here, and if we mess things up, he'll take it out on the slaves. He was always vengeful, very vengeful, he'd make Haazen look decent. If we aren't careful, we'll have an army of Sanyassans and every other form of brute they have working for them chasing us, either that or murdering the slaves. We can't take that risk." She said worriedly, and Zayne then snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"Alright, we'll be careful ok? We'll find out everything he knows, and then we'll start scouting on our own. And besides, this is the only major settlement on the planet, so we should be able to find out a lot of other stuff. And if we don't find Delakinn, we'll deal with it later. I agree, we can't risk everything just to try and get one of the big bads. So, we do this carefully. And I'll wipe his mind afterwards, so we don't need to worry about him either." He assured her, kissing her forehead.

Jarael nodded. And this was their seventh Crucible operation they were hitting, they weren't complete amateurs. And hopefully, with the Mandos in the vicinity, the Crucible wouldn't be quite so worried about security as they ought to be.

As such, she followed Zayne into the closet to continue the interrogation.

XX

It seemed as though the Crucible did indeed control a fair slice of Daragoon. The locals had all seen people marked with the flames of the Crucible milling about, but none of them knew quite who they were. All that was known was, they had several private berths in the starport, and large trucks, totally closed up and without windows, were always seen leaving them at strange hours. Zayne and Jarael spent days sounding everything out. They surveyed the starport, and observed the large towering warehouse where the trucks were sent to. They also located many other members of the Crucible, identifying at least twenty, along with a guard of four Sanyassans, backed up by kath hounds, that defended the entrance to the warehouse. The locals had learnt to give the place a wide berth, discouraged from investigating as the story was put out that they were weapons manufacturers and were notoriously trigger happy. It was also clear that many people tended to go missing from the city itself. Children had occasionally disappeared, along with teenagers who were often found face down in the swamp with blaster holes burned through them a few days later. And some of the mercs and traders had also vanished. It was clear that the Crucible was getting as many people as it could out of the city, and were determined to get more and more. As such, every day when Zayne and Jarael returned to the _Hot Prospect_, they tried to figure out the Crucible's overall aim.

Two weeks after landing on Dagary Minor, they had had no more encounters with Crucible members other than passing them in the street. After exhaustive research, they had found that the port's five berths allocated to the Crucible hadn't long left, making it unlikely there would be another shipment before they acted. Which suited them.

"So, all we need to do is ensure we can get the slaves out, preferably without alerting the Sanyassans or Delakinn. Simple." Zayne said, his confidence false.

Jarael snorted. Their plan was simple. Now that they had thoroughly studied the Crucible's operation, all they had to do was infiltrate the operation. A task which would be much easier if everyone wasn't panicking as the Mandos were only two systems away, and if she and Zayne weren't relatively well known. From their studying, they figured there had to be around three hundred slaves or so within the warehouse, most likely being put through the foul fights she had once overseen. And that meant there were probably at least fifty of the security guards making sure they all behaved and were broken in. And that was just for the operation. Delakinn, as far as they were aware, was still onplanet, apparently preparing a fresh batch of slaves to be moved to the new headquarters of the Crucible so they could continue to meet the demand for slaves across the galaxy. Which made things all the more dangerous, because with a Crux member there, especially one of the nastier ones, they couldn't afford any mistakes or risk losing everything they had come here for.

"Alright, we go tonight. And let's hope nothing goes wrong, or else the slaves, and us, die." Jarael summed up worriedly.

XX

Everything was set. The transports they had summoned, the freighter owned by Zayne's dead friend Oojoh's grandfather who had helped them rescue the slaves from the Crucible at Koornacht, a Jedi transport like the one the apprentices and masters had used on Taris piloted by Kamlin's sister, a couple of _Ministry_ class shuttles piloted by freed slaves from Koornacht, including Qohn, and the _Deadweight_, which the Rogue Moon Project had bought after Vindication with help from Senator Gorravus, were ready to move at a second's notice, and the _Hot Prospect_ was slaved to a signal in the bracelet Zayne had bought Jarael a few months before, meaning that too could be used to help evacuate everyone. Now all they had to do was get inside the warehouse.

Two slavers hulked towards the door, clad in dark garb, each marked with the flames of the Crucible. The first was a woman, with dark red hair that clashed with her blue skin, her flames marked on in the yellow pigment of her species. She was clad in a long flowing black skirt, and a tight bodice of leather, and in her hand she carried an ornate shock staff. The kath hound sniffed at her as she approached, this strange Pantoran woman, and gave a growl of approval. The one with her was a young man, clad in a sleeveless black jumpsuit. He was fairly muscular, with black leather straps wrapped around his arms, and going around his black trousers. Flames of the Crucible adorned his bulging arm muscles and marked under his piercing eyes, and his blond hair was slicked back from his forehead with product. Eyeing the two of them, the guards nodded at them, and let them pass.

The inside of the warehouse was vast, with rows upon rows of clear cubes having been constructed, each filled with two slaves, both of whom would be brawling with either vigour, fear or desperation. The two exchanged darkly significant looks as they moved through the building, hearing the wounded and disgusted cries of the slaves as they were forced to fight one another, and the grunting laugh of the Sanyassan guards. The two of them were nodded through a new set of doors by two more guards, and looking around, Zayne made sure they were alone, fingering the two blasters at his waist, and hoping that if they searched them they wouldn't find his lightsaber concealed in the top of Jarael's shockstaff.

"There were at least twenty cubes per row, and at least ten rows per side. There's so many more than we thought." Jarael muttered, and he nodded.

"I know. We'll just play it by ear, we should get the vast majority of them out, and if not, we'll think of something, we always do." He said, smoothing back his slick hair.

"Don't fidget with it." She hissed, and he shot her a dirty look.

"I've never had to style my hair before, it feels odd. It's weird, feeling so hard, I like my hair the way it usually is." He grumbled, and she gave him a small smile.

"I like the colour. Style not so much. But I said it at Koornacht, you suit showing off your arms. And the tattoos look quite good on you too." She said teasingly, and he grinned.

"Thanks. You know, I reckon you'd look quite good as a redhead." He commented, and rolled his eyes in amusement as she eyed her reflection in a window they passed.

Outside, the tension was palpable. That very morning a Mandalorian _Teroch _class gunship had been spotted at the edge of the system, leading to all the hired mercenaries, hunters and every farmer or trader reluctant to allow invaders onto their planet mobilising everything they could, from blaster pistols to swampspeeders. Everyone else was hurrying to and fro, buying supplies and shutting themselves up tight, fearing an invasion was on the way. Ships had been taking off all morning, and those that landed quickly finished their business, refuelled and headed off again. And that meant that the entire Crucible was on edge.

"Zayne..." Jarael breathed in shock, pointing out of the window they were passing, and Zayne bit down on a curse.

Outside were three massive _Heraklon_ class freighters, the sort used to transport food and supplies throughout the Republic. However, the two of them could see members of the Crucible stowing crates of things upon each ship, and it was obvious that those ships would be used to transport the slaves to a new world if the Mandalorians attacked. While the Crucible didn't care about the slaves, they did care about profit and as such wouldn't allow the Mandies to profit in any way from their organisation.

"Well, if it comes to it, we use them." He muttered and nodded towards the door to the office at the end of the corridor, where they could begin.

They entered the office, and saw eight Sanyassan guards, two T'Surr guards, and seated at the desk was an Umbaran, who didn't look up from his datapad. The room was large and well appointed, with carpeting and a wide landscape window that overlooked the swamp. Zayne and Jarael entered, the two T'Surr moving to the door just in case they tried anything. Zayne reached out with the Force, and feeling the slavers anxiety and eagerness to leave, he looked at the Umbaran, Delakinn.

He was tall, he could tell, taller than Zayne and Jarael. His shoulders were strong, and he was clad in a golden armoured body suit, tinged with black at the edges. At his waist were two disintegrator blasters, along with a long, thin sword. His head was completely bald, the flames etched in black onto his skull and on his face, contrasting harshly against his nearly pure white skin. And when he finally looked up, his eyes were nearly pure white, with only a little spot of black in each of them.

"And who might you be?" he asked, his voice deep and angry, searching the two of them with his eyes as he put down his pad.

"We're here to help you shift some of the merchandise. Command thought you would need a hand. I'm Essara, that's my bodyguard Hulis." Jarael said, gesturing with her head towards Zayne.

"We could use their help sir, we need to evacuate, the Mandos are coming!" the leader of the Sanyassans grumbled, but the Umbaran shook his hand, shutting the guard up.

"Really? Command is me. And the other two know I have the situation well in hand. And what's more, I don't recognise you." Delakinn sneered, and Zayne tensed a little.

"Well maybe the other two are trying to force you out. And we had only just been taken on before Ossadia." Jarael answered seamlessly, and abruptly, the Umbaran smiled.

"Come now my dear Edessa, do you think I don't recognise one of our own? Little Snowhair? And that must be your Jedi boyfriend, Zayne Carrick!" he hissed, and abruptly, he whipped a chain around in the air, cracking it at Jarael and the collar at its end slammed shut on her neck in an instant, and he dragged her towards him, pulling her to the floor, her staff coming from her hand, Jarael falling with a shriek of surprise.

Zayne was about to move when one of the T'Surr smacked him in the back of the head. He felt his head shake, his eyes roll, he gave a small noise of pain and fell face forward to the floor, dead to the world, hearing Jarael screaming his name as he fell.

XX

"Wakey wakey!" Delakinn called in a sing song voice, and Zayne slowly opened his eyes, to see the mess they had gotten themselves into.

He was on his knees, his hands bound by shackles, his head pounding where the T'Surr had hit it, his body curved in a painfully unnatural way, and he was looking up at the strange eyes of Delakinn, who was smiling gloatingly. To the side, Jarael, a collar around her neck which was attacked by a chain to one of the T'Surr's wrists, was looking at Delakinn desperately, pleadingly.

"Tell me, did you think you could enter my operation and I would not be aware? Though I assume you've been here for a while...tell me, did you actually think you could get away with this?" he spat in rage, and slammed his fist into Zayne's face, knocking him off his knees and to the floor.

Zayne fought down a grunt of pain, the bump on the back of his head now matching the bruise on his cheek.

Delakinn spat on Zayne as he paced in front of him, his eyes full of contempt. He then strolled over to Jarael, dragging her up by the hair.

"You two have caused quite enough damage recently. Killing Chantique and Bar'injar, you've caused quite a lot of hassle for ones so young. Did you think the Crucible would not be aware? That I would be unaware that you had dismantled rings on other worlds, belonging to us! Yes, I know all about your little exploits. You see my dear Snowhair, I knew who you were as soon as you entered the room. The Force can be a right bitch, it leaves specific markers you see, that let me know who you were. My species is highly adept at being able to read others you see, and I knew who you were in an instant. Imagine my delight, to have you two interlopers here at my mercy." He said with a sadistic smile.

"Leave...her...alone." Zayne hissed, and Delakinn gave a bark of laughter, then slammed his knee into Zayne's chin, sending him sprawling.

"Now now, I'm talking here. You two have caused quite a lot of damage, and killing the two leaders has certainly destabilised the Crucible. And that means we can't send out as many slaves. Which sadly, means we cannot make as much money. Which puts me and the others in a very bad mood!" he snarled, kicking Zayne in the chest, ignoring Jarael's cries to leave him alone.

"Jarael, leave it..." Zayne grunted, and the slavers all laughed, as Delakinn knelt down beside him, grinning sinisterly.

"Aww, look at the ickle boyfriend! I wonder who is the true instigator here, Snowhair or the Jedi? Hmm...either way, you could have stopped after Ossadia, but you didn't, and you have continued to cause havoc, losing me millions!" he snapped, and abruptly, a whip was in his hand which he lanced across Zayne's back, making him cry out in pain.

"Leave him alone! This is my fight!" Jarael shrieked, and Delakinn laughed, turning to her as she struggled to move away from the T'Surr holding her.

"And he is involved my dear little Edessa, whether by his will or yours. You have taken money from me and the rest of the Crux, it is only fitting that I take something dear to you." He said suggestively, lashing Zayne again, the whip cutting through the bodysuit and making Zayne scream in pain.

The lashes continued, five more times, Zayne screaming louder each time while Jarael cursed the slaver, until a large basin of water was brought before them, and Zayne, shaking on the floor, unable to move, looked at it in trepidation.

"You see, you two present a threat to the Crucible. You've already killed Chantique and Bar'injar, who knows what else you could do, especially as you keep stealing slaves from us. So, I am going to find out what you know. And if you don't tell me sweet Jarael, your boyfriend will drown." Delakinn sneered, grabbing Zayne's head, and ignoring Jarael's protests, shoved his face into the water.

Icy water assaulted Zayne's face as he struggled under the water, thrashing his head to no avail. He could feel the dye and product running from his hair as the water assaulted it, the sour taste going into his mouth and making him want to gag. His head continued to bob up and down in the icy water, the liquid breaking into his nostrils and his mouth, and he started to cough underwater, he could feel darkness rising for him...

And then abruptly, his head was pulled out of the water, leaving him coughing and spluttering, loosing water from his mouth and nose as he did so, sucking in air desperately, dimly hearing the laughs of the guards and the Umbaran, and Jarael's bitter cursing.

"I swear, we don't know where else you have operations, we just follow rumours mostly, leave Zayne alone Delakinn! Or I will kill you!" she snarled dangerously, and Delakinn chuckled.

"I think not my dear, I think a return to the pits for you, then before us, where we can all kill you. Your pet Jedi though, he can drown here, that will balance the account, so to speak. This will be an object lesson for you Jarael. The Crucible is not to be toyed with!" Delakinn spat, and once more, Zayne, who had just got his breath back, was dunked into the water.

He closed his eyes, his mind focused despite his peril. He had to save Jarael. Concentrating, he reached out with the Force, but unless Delakinn brought him back to the surface, it would be a wasted effort. And then suddenly, Delakinn let go, and Zayne jerked his head out of the water, and the next thing the guards knew, Jarael's staff had wrenched itself free of the guard holding it, slamming him in the mouth. A slot opened and his lightsaber leapt out, its blue blade freeing Jarael from the T'Surr and then freeing her hands, and she leapt to her feet, crashing her foot into the chest of her captor, catching her staff as she did so and knocking him off his feet. Zayne's saber cut through his manacles, and he flipped to his feet, shaking the water from his eyes and readying his saber.

And he became aware of a loud, blaring klaxon, which had clearly distracted Delakinn, as he was looking out of the window in terror.

Mandalorians were invading the planet. And he and Jarael were caught in the way. Again.

Zayne leapt, Delakinn sneering angrily, withdrawing a vibroblade from his waist, while Jarael slammed her shockstaff into her T'Surr guard. She then used her staff as a pivot, kicking two Sanyassans away, while Zayne Force pushed another one into the wall, while swinging his blue saber to block Delakinn's swing, and he cursed when his saber didn't pass through the blade.

The Umbaran laughed.

"You see, ever since Ossadia, all our hand to hand weapons have been refined with cortosis, just in case any of your friends came calling. Handy seeing as how many Jedi are now sneaking around the front lines!" he roared and leapt towards Zayne, his blade flashing.

Zayne flipped away from the attack, kicking another Sanyassan in the neck, dropping him to the floor. Jarael used her staff to knock out two more of the guards, and the Sanyassans turned and ran, leaving only one T'Surr, who charged at Zayne, his large axe swinging down at the young Jedi. Zayne did the splits, rolling away from the attack, making the brute stick his axe in the floor, and twirling away from Delakinn's slash, he sliced the T'Surr's weapon in two, and with a furious roar, the T'Surr hoisted up two prone Sanyassans and ran from the office.

Leaving the Crux member alone.

"Jarael, free the slaves!" Zayne yelled, while his saber blocked yet another hack from Delakinn.

Jarael gave him a concerned look, then nodded, rushing from the office, staff at the ready. Zayne blocked a high ended slash from the Umbaran, the slaver moving against Zayne, and the young Jedi was hard pressed to fend him off. Unlike Toki Tollivar, Delakinn was a full sized being, and while he might not be quite so proficient with his saber as Lucien had been, he was still more than adept, forcing Zayne to adapt to his attacks. Zayne was pushed to the window, and then he turned, shattering the window with his blade, and lunged at Delakinn. The Crux member blocked the attack, and Zayne grinned slightly as he began to push the slaver back. Zayne attacked both high and low, and it was clear that while Delakinn was good, he wasn't a Jedi, even a washout like Zayne. Delakinn was grunting in anger, the flames on his face being thrown into relief as explosions went off outside, and blaster bolts filled the air. The alarm klaxons continued to blare, and then Zayne twirled, blocking Delakinn's blade and kicking the Umbaran in the chest, sending his vibrosword from his hand and plummeting out of sight, and with a small grin, he levelled the saber at the slaver's throat.

"You've lost. By now Jarael will have freed the slaves." He said confidently, and as if to punctuate his comment, dozens of thin, weary looking slaves were suddenly tumbling into the room.

"How many?" Zayne asked, as Jarael joined him with the defeated Delakinn, her staff ready to whack him.

"Four hundred and a bit. You ok?" she asked worriedly.

"More immediate worries Jarael. You called the ships?"

"They're on their way. But there's a problem." She said, and Zayne raised an eyebrow at her, making Delakinn roll his eyes, unable to do much else while blaster bolts, Basilisk war droids and smoke filled the air outside.

"The Republic's arrived with a task force, but they're outnumbered. They're still fighting the Mandies though, its like they're giving the locals the time to get away." She said.

The slaves were all looking at them curiously, as Daragoon went up in flames, with speeders shooting away from the city, while the ships they had organised headed towards the warehouse.

"It's over Delakinn. Where's the Crucible located?" Zayne asked, hiding a wince as his back twinged, and the Umbaran laughed, looking at him mockingly.

"I know what you want boy. You want the Crucible destroyed so your beloved can live in peace. Well I am not a sell out. It's bad enough that fool Demagol led you to Ossadia, I won't give you anything. I won't be adopted into the Mandalorians. And I won't become a Republic prisoner. You have no hold over me boy." Delakinn sneered, and to Zayne's great surprise, he leapt from the shattered window, and before Zayne could do anything, his body had splattered at the foot of the warehouse's stilt.

"Damn him." Jarael said, as the entire warehouse rocked.

"Alright people, we're getting you out of here. Those ships that are coming along side and landing outside are going to get you out of here!" Zayne shouted, as the freighters, transports and the mining ship all came to the side of the warehouse.

"But there's an invasion going on! We're better off in our pens, wait for the Republic to free us!" a Cerean called in dismay, and Zayne had to work hard to suppress his temper.

"The Republic can't hold this planet. And believe me, you aren't better off in your pens, if you're lucky the Mandalorians would adopt you, and that's a surefire way to get yourself killed. Now get down to the landing fields, move it!" Zayne yelled, and the slaves began bustling towards the landing pad where their ships were waiting.

Jarael frowned at Zayne as he winced with moving again.

"Zayne.." she began, but he shook his head.

"We don't have time Darth Sunshine. We need to get out of here. Then I'll fix myself, promise. But now, we need to check those freighters." He explained, and her eyes lit up.

"We can use their navicomputer and find out where they came from, give us another Crucible base. Right behind you." She said, and they ran towards the landing pad.

Hundreds of slaves were on the landing pad, crouching low as Basilisk war droids zoomed overhead, firing at Republic swoops that shot past. Higher above, Aurek and Chela fighters were being forced back towards space by more and more Mandalorian fighters.

"We're going to get killed! You've doomed us, why didn't you get here sooner?" the Cerean wailed, and Jarael shot Zayne a look of indignation.

"No pleasing some people is there, bloody cheek. We just risked our lives, you got tortured to free their sorry hides..."

The _Deadweight _and the Jedi transport were both fully loaded, and Qohn gave a nod to let them know the two shuttles were also full. Only Oojoh's grandfather's freighter, and the _Hot Prospect _were left to fill, and they would be away. Problem was, nearly thirty or so slaves wouldn't be freed, they would be stuck here for the Mandos to pick up.

"Get as many as you can onto the ship. If it comes to it, we hijack one of the freighters." Zayne said, dashing for the most ornate looking one, obviously Delakinn's.

They needed a way to get the remaining slaves off the planet, and the freighters couldn't fly with so few crewers, especially if they weren't trained. The city outside was in flames, the Mandalorians taking everything they could find and the Republic falling back to the transports they had arrived on. He doubted they could lend them a shuttle to get the slaves out, but maybe...maybe they could help get the slaves off the planet.

"Zayne!"

A _Teroch _class gunship suddenly plummeted to a stop beside the landing pad, and to Jarael and Zayne's great amazement, it opened its hatch, though it didn't spill out troops. Some slaves shrugged at each other and they dashed for the gunship.

"An anti-slave Mandalorian. How nice of him." Zayne said, confident they would at least get off the planet, as he dashed through the ship to the bridge.

Once in there, he could see the dire straits the Republic forces were in. The Mandalorians considerably outnumbered them, and forced to fight city to city, the Republic were dictated to avoid causing as much damage as possible. The Mandos had no such qualms, and buildings were being blasted apart, showering the Republic forces with debris and killing many more troops. Fire was coursing over the stilted city, the Mandalorians pushing the forces back, and then Zayne's eye was drawn to the distance, where there were numerous flashes of cyan light. A Jedi. All he had to do now was hope that it was a friendly one.

Activating the comm and the navcomputer, he accessed the last known and programmed destinations, downloading the files onto an info disc. He then tapped into the Republic channel, finally getting through to one of the ships in orbit, picking up comm chatter.

"Outnumbered, situation untenable..."

"He's on my tail!"

"The Mandalorians have broken through our last barricade, retreat to the shuttles!"

"_Flitswitch _is several damaged, _Radiant_, move to defend!"

"Full retreat! Surik to _Citadel_, prepare the fleet for full retreat!"

Zayne frowned. It sounded like the Republic forces were being slaughtered. Time for them all to be gone. With a ping his download finished and he pocketed the disc, then turned his attention to the comm.

"This is Zayne Carrick to the commanding officer!" he barked into the comm system.

A hologram of an older woman with grey hair came up before him, looking harassed.

"Aren't you the Jedi sports star? What the hell are you doing here, there's a war going on. One we're losing I might add." She said disdainfully as wounded soldiers rushed past her towards the shuttles, the Republic forces in full retreat, dashing past her urgently, piling onto the ships behind her.

"Can you put me through to the general in charge?" he asked desperately, wincing as the stilt city rocked from the force of the battle.

The holo shook as a fighter slammed into the stilt she was standing on, making her curse.

"Fine, this had better be good, and I'm only doing it so I can get my people onto the shuttles in peace!" she snapped, her holo flickering out.

To be replaced by a woman using a cyan coloured lightsaber, her brown hair tied into a small brown ponytail, her beautiful face marred with grime, leading a fighting retreat against their superior foe.

"This is General Meetra Surik. I hear you're Zayne Carrick, what can I do for you? And if it doesn't involve retreating, I don't want to hear it!" she snapped, her saber cutting through an enemy soldier.

"General Surik, we've just freed about four hundred slaves from the slaver organisation known as the Crucible. We have a way to get them off planet, but I'd rather the Mandalorians didn't shoot any of us down, can you help?" he asked desperately, seeing the shuttles begin to take off and knowing he didn't have long before they would need to risk everything on their own.

"Four hundred slaves? What the hell are they doing here? Alright fine, can you hold two minutes, we're nearly to the transports, and we'll be leaving too. The Mandalorians have got Dagary Minor, no way around it, we may as well try to salvage something from all this." She hissed, deflecting another bolt.

"Thanks!" Zayne said brightly, and dashed from the ship, to see the rest of the ships beginning to take off.

Leaping to the boarding ramp of the _Hot Prospect_, he shoved through the assembled slaves, skidding to a stop in the cockpit with Jarael.

"We're getting an escort, let's get out of here!" he ordered, and with a grim smile, she gunned the ships engines and the task force, followed by the Mandalorian gunship, shot into the air, and within seconds were joined by dozens of red and white landing craft and numerous shuttles, all bound for space. A second later and two squadrons of Aurek fighters broke off from their engagements, flanking the shuttles as they headed away from the burning city of Daragoon, through the smoke filled clouds, and leaving the atmosphere of Dagary Minor.

And Zayne swore as they entered the planet's airspace. Three _Kandosii_ class dreadnaughts, two _Kyramud _class cruisers and four _Jehavey'ir _assault ships were pounding at Surik's fleet, consisting of three Hammerheads and four blockade runners, one of which's stern was aflame.

"Commander Aken, defend the freighters with us, non-coms are aboard, and once they are within the fleet, get to your homeships. All landing craft, get on board your home cruisers. Captain Arryan, prepare the fleet for an immediate lightspeed jump, full retreat!" came her voice over the comm, and all around them, the landing craft put on bursts of speed, few docking in the _Foray _class ships, the rest all docking in the Hammerheads, all of them either dancing around the enemy turbolasers or deflecting them with shields. All around them, Chela fighters and other Aurek fighters zoomed into the hangar bays mounted in the engine bays, leaving only the freighters and their escorts, as turbolaser fire from the Mandalorian forces erupted from everywhere and Mandalorian fighters zoomed in firing away, and Zayne noted that the gunship that had helped them had long since vanished. The slave rescue force was then within the protective circle of the fleet, a _Foray _at each point, and the three Hammerheads forming a triangle of defence around them.

"_Hot Prospect_, this is Captain Arryan of the starcruiser _Citadel_. General Surik would like you to come aboard, she wishes to speak with you, but hurry!" a young, harassed sounding female voice said, and Jarael did so, edging the ship into the bottom hangar of the lead Hammerhead.

"All ships, jump!"

There was a lurch, and the task force leapt away, the Mandalorian guns firing, and the burning world of Dagary Minor being Mandalore's newest conquest.

XX

"Ow!" Zayne yelped as Jarael rubbed a kolto patch onto one of the welts Delakinn had left on his back.

"Sorry Zayne. This is all my fault, I gave us away mentioning Osadia..." Jarael mumbled, soothing his scars, but Zayne shook his head, mercifully returned to brown.

"No you didn't, he knew before we'd said anything. If it was anyone's fault it was mine, I should have known the Umbarans had mind powers, I got us into this." He said, but she shook her head, also returned to normal.

"Delakinn was evil, twisted, he always was. And look what he did to you! And the barve tried to drown you, if he wasn't dead I'd kill him myself." She said angrily, and Zayne stretched, grinding his teeth against the pain, then pulled his jumpsuit back on, turning to her and kissing her gently on the mouth, stopping her mid rant.

"No you wouldn't. You're not like that. Anyway, he's dead, neither of us killed him, and we're a step closer to bringing down the Crucible once and for all. And despite getting caught up in yet another Mandalorian invasion, we actually managed to get out of this one relatively free, me being tortured aside. But let's not do that again okay?" he asked, and she smiled a little, kissing his cheek and had just moved on to his mouth, his hands twining in her hair, when someone knocked on the ramp into the ship.

"Well, let's go and see and thank our Jedi host." Jarael said cheerfully, and Zayne smiled, following her to the ramp.

That was one of the reasons he loved her. While she had been initially reluctant to confront her past, with his roundabout help, he had saved her from Chantique, ended Demagol and reunited her with her parents. After they had become a couple, she had asked him to help her continue to dismantle the Crucible, and nothing gave her more satisfaction (well almost nothing) than further thwarting her old overlords. And despite their close shave, he hoped that with Delakinn dead, albeit taking a little of Zayne's back with him, that they were nearly done with the Crucible.

They came down the ramp to find a man in his late twenties, a fuzzy red beard covering his face and kind blue eyes, wrapped in the red, black and yellow armour of a Republic soldier.

"General Sutrik is ready for you. If you'd like to follow me." He asked politely, leading them away from the ship and towards the lift at the end of the corridor.

"How bad was it down there?" Zayne asked, noticing a few soldiers limping or holding their arms looking grim.

Their companion frowned and shook his head.

"Bad. Nasty even. We should never have gone in in the first place, but apparently Admiral Karath was insistent." The man said with disdain, and Zayne and Jarael both exchanged darkly significant looks.

Saul Karath had become an Admiral after the Battle of Vanquo. However, much of the legend that had developed around him had in fact been down to Zayne and his actions rather than anything the man himself had done. Zayne had warned Karath about the attack on Serecco before it had happened, but the man was too obsessed with having caught the alleged 'Jedi killer' to listen, and as such the planet had been levelled by Mandalorian nukes. He had been the one who had allegedly saved the crew of the _Courageous_, his first command, when it was actually Zayne. He had also received the credit for the Battle of Omonoth, and had been the one responsible for the firing on Coruscant during Operation Vindication after Haazen had taken over, though was still credited with thwarting the hijack when it was really Zayne once more. He was arrogant and obsessive, and much of his reputation was a lie. And whenever he appeared, it generally meant bad news for Zayne.

"Why was he insistent?" Jarael asked curiously as they entered the lift, and sent it heading for the bridge level.

"Some Senator has the Chancellor's ear, and the Chancellor has taken an interest in Karath, so he had to justify the faith he has in him. Something isn't right about that Karath." The man muttered under his breath, obviously not thinking they would hear, and Zayne grinned.

"Trust me, we know that all too well."

The man smiled and turned to them.

"I'm Xaart by the way." He said, offering his hand, which Zayne and Jarael both shook.

"Nice to meet you. So Karath sent you down there with only a small fleet just to appease the Chancellor?" Jarael asked sceptically, and Xaart gave her a grim nod as the lift came to a stop, allowing them to enter the brightly light and spacious command corridor.

"Yeah. Now, General Sutrik's a good woman, a good commander who cares about victory yeah, but she also wants her people home as much as possible. She protested it, but was overruled, despite the fact that the nearest reinforcements are General Nisotsa, and she's about three days away. We had no choice but to go down there, Karath was threatening Arryan with charges of insubordination when she refused. And when we got down there, we were outnumbered five to one, and the Mandies have a new toy." He said grimly, and they looked at him in surprise.

Seeing their looks, he frowned in distaste.

"Yeah. Frag missiles. So of course, they only need to hit one person in a squad and the rest are ripped apart. We took very heavy casualties. And with them blowing apart the buildings willy nilly, things were just made worse." He summed up grimly, stopping outside two staterooms.

"Great, more deaths, just what we need. Thanks Xaart. May the Force be with you." Zayne said, and he smiled.

"And you two as well." He said, nodding curtly and headed for the lift, leaving them alone in the corridor.

Well alone aside from a Zabrak in a tech uniform.

"Hello. Bao-Dur." He said in greeting, extending a muscular hand, which they both shook.

"I'm Jarael, and this is my boyfriend Zayne." Jarael said in greeting.

He was about to say something when the door on the right opened, allowing a small red T3 unit to trundle out, beeping happily.

"And report back to me!" came a kind, soft voice from within, and then Bao-Dur gave them a smile and entered the room.

"Oh, come in as well you two, I'll only be a second!" the voice called again.

The two of them entered, to see a harassed looking Meetra quickly scanning the report Bao-Dur handed her.

"Not so bad then. As soon as we drop out of hyperspace, I want you over to the _Flitswitch _to help with the repairs." She said and he nodded, saluted, and left the room, allowing Meetra to close her eyes tiredly.

She stood like that for a couple of minutes, then gestured for them to sit down, pouring them each a glass of water, which Zayne shot a look of distaste at, making Jarael grin.

"Sorry about the wait, Captain Arryan was wounded by shrapnel on the way out, so I'm in overall command, and the bummer about surviving when you've lost is you've got a mound of work to do you wouldn't have if you'd had the decency to get killed or captured." She commented, downing her water in one gulp and pouring herself another glass.

"We heard about the Mandies new toy." Jarael ventured, and Meetra scowled.

"Frag missiles, as if we don't have enough problems. Anyway, I'm interested in your part. The Crucible slaves, freeing four hundred of them is no mean feat. What's the deal?"

For the next fifteen minutes, Zayne and Jarael explained about the Crucible, though neglecting to mention Jarael was once a member, and how they had been dismantling rings across the galaxy, and now they were even closer to dismantling the organisation seeing as there were only two Crux members left. They told the story of Osadia and Daragoon, Meetra silent all the way through.

"Wow. You've pissed off some very powerful people." She commented, pouring herself another glass of water. "Made all the more powerful because that until recently the Jedi didn't know anything about them. However, what you've done is amazing. You're dismantling this organisation piece by piece, saving as many people as you can. I sent a message to my old Master, Tooka, and she said she would meet the refugees and take them to the refugee centre on Shili. So what's your next move?" Meetra asked, casting an appreciative eye over Zayne.

While he remained oblivious to it, Jarael didn't and her eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Well I downloaded the navcomp data, so I figured we should take a looksie and see where else the Crucible have been visiting." Zayne said, and Meetra smiled.

"Brilliant. Just because I'm up to my neck in Mandalorians doesn't mean I don't appreciate the chance to further infuriate slavers. What have you got?" she asked, activating the holo display in the table.

Zayne entered the datachip, and Jarael moved closer to Zayne, her hand resting on his while she sent a dirty look at Meetra, who remained oblivious.

The holo came to life, showing about a dozen worlds marked as recent destinations of the deceased Crux member. Which meant, they had a clue as to where to go next.

"What's that world out there, on the far side?" Zayne asked curiously, pointing to it.

It was a small world in the Outer Rim, though it was listed as the last port of call before Delakinn had headed to Dagary Minor.

Meetra entered the coordinates, her face pensive as she did so, and Jarael gazed up at the planet.

"You remember anything?" Zayne muttered, but she shook her head.

"No, I can't think what they would be doing all the way out there, I mean why bother. But look at all the other worlds highlighted Zayne, there's loads, and probably more besides! We could be doing this in our sixties." She moaned, just now seeing just how extensive the Crucible truly was.

She was right about that. Several Core Worlds were highlighted, a few inner and mid rim worlds, and a various assortment of worlds in the outskirts of the galaxy. And a fair few were worthy of concern, if not alarm.

"The planet is called Dersonn III. It's a small colony world, about ten thousand people on it all told. Why, you getting a feeling?" Meetra asked in interest, and Zayne shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe." He admitted half heartedly, and she patted him reassuringly on the wrist, making Jarael's blood boil.

"Well go with it. Follow the living Force. Which a few of the Council could do with remembering. You at least seem marginally more decent than them." She said sniffily, and Zayne smiled, blushing slightly.

Meetra looked at some of the worlds, her brow furrowed.

"Considering the Jedi only recently heard of them, they have influence on more worlds than I'm happy with. Especially the fact that Coruscant, Corellia and Manaan all have Crucible influence." She said warily, as the task force dropped out of lightspeed, and the slave filled ships broke off, heading for their next hyperspace jump which would take them to Shili and safety.

Jarael looked at the map, frowning deeply.

"They can't all be slaving operations. Like Manaan for example. The Selkath are rigid with immigration and being a water world, its not as if you can just walk into a city. So it stands to reason that a fair few of these worlds could just be financial operations, skimming money off the top so they can keep the Crucible going. They don't exactly look after the slaves, but they do need ships and taps into intelligence channels, so that must be how they do it." She reasoned, and Meetra looked impressed.

"Seems fair to me. Either way, it still warrants investigation. I reckon we should contact the Council. Even though they are all dead set against the movement, that doesn't mean we can't compare notes. If there's a large scale slaving operation going on, especially one that has a presence on so many worlds, we need to sort it out." She said, and Zayne looked at Jarael.

"What do you reckon?" he asked quietly.

Her face was clouded. The idea of Jedi help was appealing, if only to help narrow down the possibilities for the Crucible headquarters so they could finish them, but there was still the overt risk of the slaves. If the Jedi were seen making any overt moves, it could endanger everyone they sought to protect.

"They could just do it quietly, scout the places out, see what they can find out. But not actually go in." She said slowly, and Meetra nodded.

"Seems fair to me. You seem to be protecting the little people, which is a good thing to be doing in these times while everyone else is focused on the Mandies. Alright, I'll get on to the Council, ask them to have a little looksie. The slaves are en route to Shili, and Master Tooka will look after them. So what's your next move?" she asked, scanning the map with concern.

Jarael pointed to Dersonn III.

"If Zayne's right, that place could be important. I reckon we should go there and check it out." She said, and Zayne nodded.

Meetra gave the world a look, and seemed to zone out a little.

"You alright?" Zayne asked, touching her shoulder, earning him a glare from Jarael.

"Yeah it's just, I don't know, I feel the Force swirling around that world. If you're going out there, be careful. The Crucible might not want visitors." She warned them, her eyes betraying concern.

"It could be another world like Volgax. We'll be careful, don't worry." Jarael said, stepping in front of Zayne and grudgingly offering her hand, which Meetra shook.

"You know, there's always a place for you with the Revanchists. We could use people of both of your talents." She said, and Zayne smiled at her, leaving a sour taste in Jarael's mouth.

"No thanks, I've seen enough war. Thanks for helping us General." He said, shaking her hand, and she waved her other dismissively.

"Oh call me Meetra. Good luck, and may the Force be with you." She said, and with that the two of them left the office, her eyes narrowed in concern.

XX

The _Hot Prospect _dropped out of the hangar of the _Citadel_, arcing away from Meetra's task force. Jarael piloted the ship, while Zayne reported to Shel what they had done and were they were going next to see what info she could find for them. Jarael had calmed down slightly. She supposed that Meetra was merely being friendly, if a little overly friendly. Still, Zayne should have made it clear that he wasn't interested, that he was with her. Grumbling slightly, she heard him end the call in the comm room next door, and she gunned the engine, sending the ship jumping away for Dersonn III. It had been the place Delakinn had visited last before going to Dagary Minor. So what was so special about it? Why were Zayne and Meetra both sensing something about the world? Frowning in thought, she stood up and went aft to check on Zayne's whip scars.

XX

Meetra's task force was hanging in space, while repairs to the _Flitswitch _were carried out. While they did so, Meetra called her old master. While she had been trained by many Jedi in her time, the one who had actually taken her as a Padawan and completed her training was Master Tooka, a small, overprotective Chadra-Fan with a good heart.

"Master." She said, smiling and inclining her head.

"Ah hello Meetra my dear! Don't worry, I'm already on Shili, awaiting these slaves you have for me. Nasty business." She said distastefully, her small nose wrinkled in dislike, her squeaky voice sounding pained.

"Good, thanks for doing this master. It was lucky I was there, or else Zayne would never have gotten them off the planet." She said, and Tooka looked at her curiously.

"Zayne? Ah, Zayne Carrick, yes I remember him. Back from before he was accused of murdering his fellow Padawans, a lad at the enclave on Dantooine, a few years younger than you. So he got them off the planet did he? But why were you there? Surely fleet command didn't send you there?" she asked worriedly, and Meetra nodded grimly.

"Yep. Karath's doing." She sneered, and Tooka glowered.

"Ugh. Between him and Vrook, you join Revan's group to get away from Vrook, and then you get stuck with him. What's troubling you young one?" she asked, her kind mouse like eyes bright in the holo.

Meetra frowned, then sent Tooka the data they had on Dersonn III.

"It's Zayne and his girlfriend. They're looking for that slaver group that caused such a stir, the Crucible, and they're going to this world here, Dersonn III. It's in the middle of the Outer Rim, and the Crucible leader that got killed on Dagary Minor was there before he arrived there. It's a tiny colony world, ten thousand populace all told, one small city, the rest tall mountain ranges and plains. So why do I have such a bad feeling about this?" she asked, and Tooka frowned.

"Hmm. A bad feeling you say? I tell you what I'll do. I'll get on to my contacts in the underworld, see what I can't find out about this Dersonn III. I agree, its too far out of the way to be insignificant. Perhaps another one of their slave pens?" she suggested, and Meetra shrugged.

"I don't know. Let me know what you find out master." She said, and Tooka nodded.

"I will. Slavery is foul. If I can do anything to help those young ones end the Crucible, then I will. May the Force be with you child. Toodleloo!"

Her holo flickered out, and once she had gone, Meetra contacted her old friend Kavar. A member of the Jedi Council, he had taught her a few tricks when Tooka had been away on an extended mission, and they were good friends. A few minutes later, the holo flickered to life, not just showing him, but the small, elf like Master Vandar and also the moustached and bald Zez-Kai Ell. While the Council were opposed to the Revanchist faction, ostensibly to make sure the young ones who had gone to war did not lose their way, the Council had made it known they could contact them at any time if they sought help or guidance, or preferably to them, a way home. However, if you got a group like this, or with Lonna Vash or Qual on it, that was all well and good. But if you got a group with Atris or Vrook on it, you could forget getting anything other than a lecture, and hearing them thinking themselves wise and that they alone knew what was the right thing to do. Meetra had always argued with Atris growing up during their training, as Atris was supremely assured of herself to the point of arrogance, and tolerated no deviation from a course other than her own. Vrook, who in some ways was Tooka's nemesis considering how many times they had crossed swords over the years, was a grumpy, unappeasable being, who was incensed that anyone dare defy the Council and, like Atris, did not like anyone acting against the conditioned path, which to him meant what he felt should have been done and what he said.

"Ah young Meetra, it is good to see you. What news of the war?" Vandar asked, from his position in the middle of the three Jedi, and she assumed they were in Kavar's quarters as he always sat to the side, so he could see anyone coming into hus room.

"We lost Dagary Minor. However, Zayne Carrick did jailbreak around four hundred Crucible slaves from the planet before it fell, so it isn't all bad." She said brightly.

The three Jedi Masters, sitting in their triangle, looked at each other in shock. She knew they disapproved of the Revanchists, though Kavar, Zez-Kai and Vandar were some of the more sympathetic members, as opposed to Vrook and Atris, but Zayne was a bit of a wild card to them. While Vandar trusted him, and that was good enough for the vast majority of the Council, Vrook was opposed to letting someone with Jedi training go around without being answerable to the Jedi Order. Unlike most Jedi, and most of the galaxy, Meetra knew exactly what had happened during Vindication, as Tooka, ever nosey and wanting to exasperate Vrook at any opportunity, had ferreted around until Lonna Vash had finally cracked, bordering on exasperated hysteria as Tooka wouldn't leave her old friend alone, and told her everything, which she had then repeated to Meetra. So far as she knew, only the Council, Tooka, Meetra, Revan, one of his old masters and maybe Malak knew what had truly happened.

"This slaver group is more dangerous than we thought, especially considering they tried to use the saber of Exar Kun. How many rings have they dismantled now?" Zez-Kai asked, quite eager for a report on young Zayne's progress, having become quite fond of the boy and interested in what he got up to.

"As far as I understand it, they've dismantled at least seven rings, along with taking down the top ranking members on Osadia like he told us. Since then though, actually on Dagary Minor, they took on another member of the leadership, and he's dead now too. But, while they were on Dagary Minor, Zayne copied the Crucible's nav data, and lets just say he found some things worth investigating." She said.

Kavar, his jaw set and determined, his brow furrowed, looked at her cautiously.

"What did he find?" he asked, and she checked the channel was secure before proceeding.

"The Crucible has some form of influence in the Core, a fair few worlds. But some in particular raised my eyebrows." She explained, and Vandar held his chin in thought.

"Indeed? And why do they concern you young one?" he asked.

"Well there were signs of the Crucible having operations on Coruscant, Corellia, and worse than that, Manaan and Dantooine." She said, not having drawn the other two's attention to the fact that Dantooine was also highlighted in the map.

Zez-Kai frowned, stroking his moustache.

"Master Dorak has his apprentice Deesra looking into disappearances in the locals outside of the Enclave. He may have stumbled onto the Crucible which certainly complicates matters. If the Crucible has set up an operation on Dantooine, they could very well be looking for a confrontation." He reasoned, and Meetra had to admit, it was a possibility.

However, she doubted the Crucible were seeking a confrontation with the Order. More likely they had figured they could abduct a few people from Dantooine and go about their business, not knowing about the enclave there.

"Manaan is troubling." Vandar said, his brow furrowed.

"I agree Master. Ferroh is near there, he could check it out." Meetra offered, but Kavar shook his head.

"I don't think so, that could be seen as controversial. Master Bolook is idle at the moment, we could send him. And as to Coruscant, I'll attend to that myself." Kavar said, and Meetra smiled.

"You need to give those old bones a workout sometime eh old friend?" she asked, and Kavar chuckled.

"Quite so. Don't worry Meetra, we will investigate this for you, see what we can't find out. Whatever the Crucible is up to, we need to stop it. We'll keep in touch. Thank you for bringing this to our attention." Kavar said, giving her a small smile.

"May the Force be with you young one." Vandar said, and the holo flickered out.

Meetra stood contemplating for a moment. Zayne and Jarael could handle themselves, their actions on Dagary Minor had more than illustrated that point. But still, the Crucible was bad news and as Jarael had said was a lot bigger than they had expected. And she had a horrible feeling that they could indeed be up to something, perhaps to do with the Mandalorians. Something about this just wasn't right and it was making her uneasy.

While she was deep in thought, worrying about Tooka, Zayne, the war and the Crucible, the comm beeped.

"General Sutrik, Captain Arryan is all patched up, and are picking up a communication from the _Indefatigable_. Shall I put it through?" the bridge officer asked.

The _Indefatigable _was the _Inexpugnable _class command ship that served as Revan's flagship. The _Inexie_ class was a massive warship, three times the size of her own _Hammerhead _Cruiser. Capable of holding twelve fighter squadrons, it could easily match a _Kandosii _Dreadnaught and was a very powerful ship. Problem was there were very few left, and they were relatively impracticable despite their size.

However, its commander was anything but that. Revan was the reason all of them were there. Formerly, a handsome young man with long, tidy brushed back hair to just above his shoulders, he had lately donned the mask of a deceased Mandalorian, vowing not to take it off until the Mandalorians who had murdered the people of Cathar were defeated. Young, handsome and charismatic, he had gathered many Jedi to his cause, all of whom now followed a Jedi mercy corps that allowed them to fight on the front line. His holo shimmered to life, clad in a hooded robe, and his face obscured by the mask. Beside him was the tall, burly, bald figure of Malak, Revan's best friend and right hand man.

"Meetra, where are you? What happened at Dagary Minor?" Revan asked.

"Well we lost the battle, command should never have sent us there in the first place. But we did evacuate a load of Crucible slaves that Zayne and his girlfriend freed." She said brightly, and she saw the shock express itself across Malak's face.

She knew full well that Malak had left the fleet, seeking the young Zayne and Jarael in order to try to convince the girl that he had fallen for to go with him, and that it was a source of contention that the young Zayne had managed to win Jarael rather than go with him. Personally, she couldn't fault Jarael's choices. For a start, Zayne was cuter, he had hair which she considered a plus, and wasn't a pompous ass like Malak was.

"That boy again, he gets around doesn't he?" Revan mused, and Meetra smiled at the look on Malak's face.

"He certainly does. He's away to Dersonn III to investigate a new lead on the Crucible, and I asked the Council to have a look into other places they might have a presence. I think they might be up to something." She said grimly, and Revan nodded.

"You might be right. And with the Mandies pressing towards the Inner Rim we cant afford to be running around shutting down the Crucible, its about time the Council did something helpful. So what you waiting for?" he asked.

"Just for the repairs on the _Flitswitch _to be finished then I'll be on the move again. Command wants me to head over to Bothawui, the Mandies have been scouting the system." She explained, and Revan nodded.

"Good. I'm on my way to Christophsis, the Mandies encountered their patrols the other day so I'm heading there now." He explained.

Malak frowned.

"You really think the Crucible presents a danger?" he asked, his face clouded, and Meetra thought she knew what was coming.

"Well don't you think we should investigate too? I mean I like Zayne, but he's a kid! He must be in over his head." He said dismissively, and Meetra narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

"He didn't seem over his head to me. Aside from their last trip going a little south, they seemed fine, and more than competent. And remember, Zayne eluded five powerful Jedi Masters, took down a former Sith and dealt with the leader of the Crucible and Demagol. He may not be a Jedi in the normal sense, but he seems perfectly competent." She said peevishly, her eyes narrowed at Malak.

"Yeah but he is still just a kid, and Jarael is too good a fighter..."

"To be with a washout?" Revan asked sharply, and Meetra had to hide a smile. She loved it when Revan told Malak off.

"That's not..."

"Yes it is. You're letting your emotions cloud your judgement. Zayne, as Meetra says, sounds perfectly competent on his own, as does this Jarael. You only want to get us involved because you want to see the girl again." Revan said in annoyance, and Malak glowered at him.

"I still think someone should go along. If not me, then someone else from our group, see what we can find out. Because if your feelings are right and the Crucible are gearing for something big, we need to head it off before it stabs us in the back. Don't you think?"

She hated to admit it, but he did have a point. Revan obviously thought so too, as he raised his hand to the bottom of his mask, as if to stroke his chin.

"You do have a point. Alright, go to Dersonn III. But if you're going there, keep your task force doing something useful, send your task force to the base at Ord Pardon, have Captain Telletoh go on an inspection, we don't want that flank collapsing." Revan said, and Malak gave a satisfied, slightly smug smile.

"Alright. Speak to you later Meetra, may the Forcbe with you." Revan said, and the holo flickered out, leaving her frowning in concern.

The bad feeling she had about Dersonn III had just gotten worse. It was like it was a flashpoint or something, and it was making her uneasy.

Sighing in exasperation, she headed to the bridge to find out how the repairs were going.

XX

The remaining Crux members had had quite enough. Chantique, Bar'injar and now Delakinn were all dead. And while that did suit the remaining two members of the Crux, it did not bode well for the Crucible itself, and there was already subversive talk in the ranks about splitting off from the sinking ship, and that could not be allowed. Not when they were about to launch their plan, not when they were so close.

As such, the _Poacher _class cruiser, the _Entrapment_, the new flagship of the Crucible following the loss of its sister ship, the _Gladiator _near Ithor, had welcomed seven hunters on board.

The first two were large, hulking Ithorians. Having established their reputations cashing in the bounty on the Jedi fugitive Zayne Carrick, the red scarf wearing Del and the blue scarf wearing Dob Moomo had been summoned to see if they could repeat their feat by the leaders of the Crucible.

The next two were two scantily clad Twi'leks, dressed in black bodysuits, slave tattoos emblazoned all over their bodies. They were Teer'aa and Seer'aa, two former slaves who had killed their master and had established themselves as deadly, seductive hunters, giving themselves the name Twin Suns.

The next was a Nikto, his right eye white and milky due to the long scar that ran down it, and beneath if were two other deep gouges into his face. His name was Vrak, a Nikto predator who hunted sentients and animals alike, the scar a relic from a particularly vicious albino Kath hound on Dantooine.

Beside him was the tall, reptilian Anoo-Dat Besakhar. An excellent tracker, he obsessively stalked prey until he had them dead and buried, and was the most formidable hunter in the room bar one.

And the last, and greatest of the hunters was a dark furred Wookiee by the name of Hanharr. Having escaped from Czerka slavers, it was as if he hated the galaxy and wished to make everyone else suffer and was willing to do anything else he could to achieve that.

The holograms of the two remaining Crux members appeared before them hunters. The first holo was emitting from a hover chair, a small, squat obese Gossam female by the name of Qui La, red flames marked over her pale blue face. Stuffed into her chair, she was the Magister Manufacturer, in charge of the Crucible droid factories that produced the skyreaper drones and the _Poacher _class Cruisers, along with any fighters or anything else they could possibly need. Twisted and cruel, she had a habit of running people down in her hover chair, laughing at the defeated masses beneath her feet.

However the truly dangerous Crux member remaining was a long, lithe, tattooed Ryn. The Magister Observer, Vuquoa, marked in black flames, was sneaky and cunning, but also brutal, more than capable of holding his own against both Chantique and Bar'injar when they were alive. Now the true force behind the Crucible, he was the driving force behind the plan of the Crucible and was more determined than anyone to bring Zayne to his doom. He and Jarael had caused quite enough trouble for one lifetime.

"We want them found. Found and brought to us alive. But if you do have to kill them, we will understand." Vuquoa sneered, his holo shimmering with his anger.

"_We will do what you ask. I will do what you ask_." Hanharr howled, and Qui La glowered.

"Be sure that you do. We don't know if Delakinn told them anything before his death. If they make it here to headquarters, we will be most displeased." She growled.

"There are only two of them though. What risk do the pretty offshoot and the handsome trickster pose to you?" Teer'aa asked curiously in Huttese.

"We didn't think they posed any threat. Until they killed Chantique and Bar'injar and continue to dismantle our operations across the galaxy. So see to it that they are stopped. Kill them if you must. But they cannot be allowed to meddle with anymore Crucible affairs!" Vuquoa snarled, and the holos shimmered out.

"We'll find them, we know them." Del boasted proudly.

"Does it bother you Ithorian, hunting someone you know?" Besakhar asked softly.

"_It shouldn't. We have a job to do. We shall hunt the Jeedai and the huntress_." Hanharr snarled, and with that, he left.

"No Wookiee. We shall find the handsome trickster and break him." Seer'aa vowed, and with that the dangerous hunters left the room, heading for their ships. And unlike the Moomos, Hanharr, Besakhar and Vrag already had an idea of where to look.

**Hello there!**

**What with Knights of the Old Republic War coming out today, I figured a Zayne/Jarael story was in order, so here we are hunting down the last of the Crucible. This will be a three shot, packed with cameos, so what will happen next?**

**And apologies for the last little bit, I've had the cold and a cough not feeling that good so it might not be as good as I want it to be.**

**However, hope you like, enjoy! And please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars**

Crucicrux

On the long trip to Dersonn III, the scars Zayne had received from the whip had largely healed. However, the same couldn't be said for the tension between the two of them, as being cooped up together for so long, and being as anxious as they were, the two of them were getting very snappy with each other. And this time it was Zayne who was on the receiving end.

"Wait, you think Meetra was flirting with me?" he demanded incredulously, and Jarael shot him a sour look.

"She was all over you, and you didn't even notice!"

"Firstly, she wasn't all over me, she was just being friendly, and secondly, surely if another girl is flirting with me and I don't notice that's a good thing right?" he grumbled.

Jarael rolled her eyes.

"Oh sure, you were just being that friendly by nature?" she asked irritably and he groaned in exasperation.

"Jarael-"

"Zayne, please, I'm not stupid." She snapped irritably.

"Jarael I haven't don't anything wrong! I wasn't flirting with her, she wasn't flirting with me she was just being friendly, and giving us a hand to take down the Crucible. Which is what we both want isn't it?" he asked scathingly, and she sighed, looking away from him.

"Of course we do. So let's just get back to it shall we?" she asked wearily, and Zayne rolled his eyes.

"Jarael, we need to talk about this!" he protested, but she shook her head.

"No. You say you weren't flirting with her, and, and I believe you. So what do we know about Dersonn III?" she asked, heading to the cockpit.

Zayne watched as the blue dressed form of his girlfriend disappeared into the cockpit. He sighed. It was probably just cabin fever, the two of them had been cooped up together for too long. But it had never bothered them before. Had Meetra really been flirting with him? If she had been he hadn't noticed. But why was Jarael so jealous? Surely she knew how he felt about her. He wouldn't drop her just because some girl suddenly took an interest in him. He wouldn't even be interested now if Shel took an interest in him and he had spent most of his time on Taris crushing on her. He loved Jarael, not anyone else, and he couldn't imagine being with anyone else either. He would have to show her that, prove that to her somehow. Sighing, he followed her into the cockpit.

XX

Besakhar hissed as he read the report. No wonder the Crux was furious. Carrick had apparently lifted nearly five hundred slaves off of Dagary Minor before the Mandalorian invasion. However, such an action did leave the question of what Zayne would do now. Would he go into hiding, as anyone sensible who had just annoyed the Crucible the way they had do? Or would he still keep searching for the centre of the Crucible? He knew full well that the boy would never find the Crucible headquarters. This was simply because they were mobile. The group's headquarters were wherever the Crux was at any one time. The boy would never find it.

However, that didn't reduce the problem the boy was causing. The Crux had spoken. Zayne Carrick had to die, and he was just the hunter to do it. While the Twins Suns, the Moomo Brothers and Vrak had jetted off seconds after the meeting had ended, Besakhar and Hanharr had a much more methodological approach.

In order to search out the boy, he had to understand how the boy was getting his information. He knew he had to have contacts high up somewhere, and there was little he could do about that. But, rumour had it that during the escape from Dagary Minor, they had appropriated one of the Crucible's own ships. That meant the boy could feasibly be travelling based on the planets the Umbaran had been to before his excursion to Dagary Minor to pull the slaves to their capital.

Besakhar looked at the readouts the Crux had given him. It was clear that the two members in charge of the Crucible now were clearly worried about the threat the boy posed, and not just to their profits. He had come all too far all too quickly and it was making them uneasy. He had lost them a considerable number of slaves and fairly surmountable profits with his actions, along with throwing the Crux itself into disarray. He had to be stopped, or else the Crucible, his most constant employer, would soon be demolished. Besakhar nodded to himself as he began to study the charts, determined to find where Zayne had went.

XX

Hanharr frowned to himself. The Jeedai boy had to be found, and found quickly. There was something enticing about working for the Crucible. Despite what slavers had done to his homeworld, he approved of their methods. Everyone was a slave to something. He simply sought to bring actual realisation to the people of the galaxy. His people had been slaves to their customs, and that had allowed Czerka to walk all over them. All life was lived as that of a slave. Killing his tribe had been a mercy, it had freed them from their bonds. He would find the boy. Then he would take him to the Crux. And then, he would free the boy from his own bonds.

With this thought in mind, he looked at the list of worlds Delakinn had visited before his death on Dagary Minor. And then, as he studied the list, a stray thought struck him. What if the boy, who had been largely dismissed by most people as an incredibly lucky idiot, took a simple approach to the task? After all, Delakinn had left the capital and gone straight to Dagary Minor. Hanharr thought, and the more he did, the more the scenario made sense.

Zayne Carrick was coming here to Dersonn III.

XX

The pastoral world of Dantooine was the perfect place for a Jedi Enclave. Out of the way, secluded, peaceful, it was just the environment the Jedi preferred in order to do their meditations and learn the Force. However, it was not so good when some highly ignorant slavers had set down in the grove and had been rounding up anyone they could find. As a result, the enclave council, led by the Selkath Master Qual due to Master Vandar currently being on Coruscant, had authorised Vrook's stand in Dorak, to send his apprentice to investigate what was going on.

That was what had brought Deesra Luur Jada out here. A green skinned Twi'lek, he was the apprentice to the academy chronicler, Master Dorak, and after hearing about the disappearances he had gone to inspect what had transpired. However, he had arrived in time to see the wife of Ahlan Matale, a newly arrived wealthy farm owner, beaten to death and abandoned by a group of dangerous looking Sanyassans, while they abducted a group of about ten other people who had been kidnapped from in and around the area. Deesra had now been following the leads for the last two days, and he was led to believe that the slavers, whoever they were, had landed their ship near to the crystal caves, which would explain why the kinrath had been stalking the plains lately.

Edging along the wall near the entrance to the caves, and using the Force to set a kath hound onto the kinrath that were populating the plain, he came to the edge of the overlook and looked down, to see a small prisoner transport ship, like the sort that had been used on Taris, far below. Outside the ship were a group of over thirty people, all forced to kneel on the ground with their hands on their heads, while brutal looking Sanyassans and Trandoshans kept an eye on them. Deesra frowned. Slavers. They had to be.

Pulling his binoculars from his robes, he zoomed in on the leader, who seemed to be a Koorivar male. He noted the swirling black and blue tattoos marking his green, reptilian face and cursed. After being alerted by Dorak to the fact that the Crucible had a presence on Dantooine, he had been expecting to run into them. But what were they doing here?

Using the Force, he blocked out all other distractions, and listened in on their conversation.

"I still say we're bein watched." A Trandoshan growled irritably.

"Well you'd best hurry and get the chattel onto the ship. The Crux don't want to be kept waiting." The Koorivar grunted.

"Easy for them. All they need to do is sit on their repulsorchairs, we're the ones who do all the work." A mutinous Klatoonian grunted, at least he did until the Koorivar slammed his fist into his nose.

"Enough! We do what we're told. The chattel already in the ship know what we're about, now we need to make this lot do it too. So get on with it. When this deal goes down, we'll be rich." The Koorivar said to hearty guffaws.

"Hmm, seems to me that you could be outmatched my young friend." A voice came from behind Deesra and he jumped, turning to see the wizened form of Nemo coming towards him.

"Nemo! You made me jump." Deesra scolded and the old man smiled.

"You were focusing too much on the slavers, you left yourself blind to all other avenues. However, no harm done. Who are this unsavoury looking bunch?" the old man asked, and Deesra surveyed him.

While Dorak had instructed him to do this himself, there was no way he could take down all the slavers that were down there. One Jedi against ten slavers would be fair enough, but there were about twenty there, and they also needed to make sure the slavers didn't target the prisoners.

"The Crucible, a nasty slaver group. They're the ones who were abducting people from the surrounding areas." Deesra explained.

"Strange. I take it they don't know of the enclave?" Nemo asked, and Deesra shook his head.

"No they don't, but they are aware that they are being watched. They were talking about a deal that's going down with their leaders. Interrogation and rescue?" he asked with a coy smile, taking his lightsaber off his belt.

"I think that sounds fine my good fellow. Lead on." Nemo said, lifting his own saber.

Deesra flipped high into the air, his yellow lightsaber blazing to life as he plummeted to the ground. Landing, he quickly dispatched the bleeding Klatoonian and the Saurin guard, turning in order to see the large group of Sanyassans heading towards him.

The next thing he saw was a cyan burst of light as two of the Sanyassans dropped to the ground in death, and Nemo began to bat away blaster bolts as the slavers turned to face the two Jedi.

"Please Jedi, save us!" someone wailed from the group of captives behind Deesra, but he was already on the task, deflecting blaster bolts back at the Trandoshan, and blasting a scraggly furred Bothan with a Force push.

The Koorivar hissed. What were the Jedi doing here? He had to escape. There were nearly a hundred and fifty slaves stuffed aboard the transport, he couldn't fail the Crux or else they would never rest until he had died a most painful death. And if he wanted to share in the deal that was going down, then he had to escape. Seeing that both Jedi were busy he dashed up the ramp of his ship and shut the ramp, ignoring the pained and panicked cries of the livestock they had already captured, and went for the cockpit.

Nemo deflected a shot into the chest of an Ishi Tib pirate and was about to move to the next slaver when there was a loud roar that knocked him off his feet. He and Deesra looked up in shock as the ship's engines blasted into action, and the ship began to rise away, leaving the slavers stranded and the slaves cowering in fear. Deesra cursed, and fumbling along his belt, found a tracer beacon which he quickly threw onto the underside of the ship, and he buried his head in the dirt as the ship blasted for orbit.

"Blast it!" Deesra cursed, getting to his feet as Nemo oversaw the surrender of the remaining slavers, who were looking at the Jedi nervously.

"Damn you Jedi! We were going to be rich!" a Weequay cursed, and Deesra frowned.

"Indeed? Perhaps you can tell me what exactly was going to happen. What was this deal you were talking about?" Deesra asked, pointing his lightsaber at the thug's throat.

The slavers, all marked as members of the Crucible, looked at each other darkly, and the Weequay nodded.

"We don't really know. The Crucible has been mixed up ever since the Magister Impresser was killed a few months back. But ever since there's been rumours of a big deal going down, one that means we can disappear for a while, rebuild the mess that Carrick kid has made of the Crucible and come back bigger. But we don't know what it is, what the deal means. All we've heard is that nearly all agents have been sent out to round up as many slaves as possible for one big bulk buyer." The Weequay said.

Nemo narrowed his eyes, waving off a young woman who was sobbing into his knees.

"One big bulk buyer? Any ideas who that might be?" he asked, and the thug shook his head.

"No idea. All we know is that this buyer is willing to take the lot."

"The lot?" Deesra asked sharply.

"Yeah. Ever since Osadia all of the slave pens we used to have, like Volgax, have been getting dismantled, all our ships recalled to headquarters. And the demand for more slaves has gone up, and our usual business partners are going ignored, so whoever this big buyer is must have a lot of credits." The thug said smugly, and Deesra rolled his eyes.

"Who could be buying so many slaves all at once?" Deesra asked Nemo in an undertone, but the old man shook his head, smiling slightly as a thankful child suddenly wrapped Deesra's legs in a hug.

"I don't know Deesra, but I think we ought to find out, and report to the Council."

XX

The Dantooine Enclave Council was not nearly as large as the High Council on Coruscant. At any given time, there were four members only on the Dantooine Council, however, due to all of the members other than Dorak being members of the High Council too, they were frequently interchangeable.

Today there were four masters present, three of whom also sat on the High Council, but due to the relaxed nature of the Dantooine enclave compared to mainstream Coruscant learning, they didn't usually have to be on Coruscant. Deesra had once reflected to his master that five of the most powerful masters in the enclave were also five of the members of the High Council, which seemed to his logical mind to be a risky decision. And considering two High Council members had recently been lost from the High Council, one having died in the hushed up Mandalorian attack on Coruscant and that member's predecessor having joined Revan, it seemed a slight folly to have nearly half the Council at risk of not being there half the time.

Master Qual was leading the Council today, in place of Master Vandar. An aging Selkath, he had fought in the Great Sith War, leading the Republic retaking of Iridonia in the final months of the war. He had also presided over the Great Hunt, the initiative to wipe the Terentateks from the galaxy.

Master Bala Nisi was a long standing member of the Council, and the current Chronicler. It was she who had argued that Dorak should temporarily fill in for Master Vrook as she intended to step down at the end of the year.

Master Zhar Lestin was a Twi'lek like Deesra, with pink skin. He had been a master on Coruscant during the Great Hunt, and had been elected to the Council to replace Aleco Stusea, who had been killed by a renegade Sith from the Sith War.

The last member was Master Dorak, Deesra's own master, who was about to ascend to the position of Chronicler of the Academy. Temporarily standing in for Vrook, who was still on Coruscant, he would take Bala's seat once she stood down.

"A big, bulk buy? Surely not. How could a slaver group hide such a thing?" Zhar asked, and Bala steepled her fingers together and sighed.

"We only recently learned of the Crucible, so they obviously have some considerable experience at covering their tracks. And Zayne has been causing a lot of damage to their operations recently. Perhaps this is the key. Perhaps they intend to sell everything off so they can disappear." She reasoned, and Qual nodded.

"That is a possibility, however, the question remains, if there is indeed a big buyer out there, who could it be? Who could have a need for thousands of slaves all at once?" he asked in his guttural voice.

"I don't know masters, but I may have a way. I attached a tracing beacon to the ship the slaver left in. At the very least we must pursue him if only to return the other slaves he had captured to their homes." Deesra said boldly, and Dorak smiled.

"I agree my apprentice. However, we must wait for the moment, at least until we hear from Master Kavar. This has turned into a cross academy investigation. The Crucible apparently has links on many worlds, and Master Kavar has ordered a full fledged investigation into the matter. We will await his response before we go any further." Dorak said, and sent Deesra a warning glare when it looked like he was about to protest.

"Though, it does seem that we may need to search for the Crucible before long. Continue to track the ship Deesra, and I will prepare a team to help you in getting the slaves back." Bala said, and he and Nemo bowed before leaving the chamber.

XX

Kavar cursed under his breath as the slavers fired yet another explosive round at him. They knew full well that they were cornered, as police speeders were swarming the factory that they had been piling their captives in, and there was also a _Foray _class blockade runner in position above the factory, but that didn't stop the tattooed members of the Crucible attempting to kill him. Kavar had followed rumours all through the undercity, leading him to a factory at the edge of the Industrial District. Once he had entered he had found the Crucible slavers forcing hundreds of slaves, culled from various aspects of life in the city, all being stuffed into a commandeered Mandalorian dungeon ship. It was quite the sign that the Crucible could kidnap hundreds of beings and on a planet like Coruscant, hardly anyone bothered to notice or care.

However, he did care, and that was what had brought him here. His two blue lightsabers knocked blaster bolts away from yet another pen full of slaves, and pondered how best to go about fixing this mess he was in. If he could take out the Devaronian with the rocket launcher, then he could easily mop up the rest of them. It was right about now that he was wishing he had accepted Lonna's offer to help. True she had only offered to get out of a diplomatic reception but still, her help would have been invaluable.

Kavar grunted as another rocket got perilously close to the slaves, and threw his shoto, the blue blade arcing through the air and taking off the Devaronian's arm. As he fell backwards, overloaded with the weight of the launcher, Kavar summoned the blade back to him, leaping across the room to the centre of the slaver group, and let loose with his blades. Cries of pain surrounded him as he sliced through the remaining Crucible members, ending the brawl.

"Jedi, save us, please!" a woman in one of the cages yelled desperately.

Kavar used the Force to open the cages, and the captives started pushing and shoving to get out.

The entire thing was out of control. From what he had heard from the member he had been interrogating before he had been rumbled, apparently the Crux, the leadership of the organisation, had ordered all patrols and groups to round up as many slaves as they could, and then ferry them to their capital in preparation for a massive deal that was going down. The one he had interrogated also told him that all of the Crucible's operations were being shut down. As such, this left Kavar with a set of questions. Firstly, why was the Crucible rounding up as many slaves as they could on ever world they could manage? Secondly, who was the buyer for these vast amounts of slaves? Thirdly, what precipitated this action? Was their capital threatened? Was the Crucible in danger of collapse? Or was Zayne getting a little too close for comfort?

Kavar frowned, and watched as the lower city police stormed the building, rounding up the defeated, tattooed slavers. Something wasn't right. He had been following leads all the way here, of disappearances and of tattooed villains. The Crucible was up to something big. And for an organisation that had only recently become known to the Jedi, they were far too powerful. Which meant that whatever they were planning couldn't be good.

"Is it really over Master Jedi?" an older, well built man asked, and Kavar frowned.

"Somehow I don't think so friend. Something makes me think that whatever the Crux is up to, this is just the beginning."

XX

Bolook, an orange skinned Twi'lek frowned as he looked around the office. He was in the western corner of Ahto City, in an office not far from the High Court that ruled the planet and enforced its neutrality in the conflict that was engulfing the galaxy.

And the fact that this office was so close to the courts just made the entire situation rather odd.

The entire office had been picked clean, even of fingerprints thanks to the all too dedicated cleaning droids. But there was absolutely nothing here. He had asked around the swoop track, using what he had learned of the Crucible, to try and get the information he so desired. And the swoopies, aside from the belligerent Gamorrean, had readily provided him with the information he had needed after enough drinks were bought.

It transpired that tattooed beings had been a frequent sight in the swoop bar, at least until very recently. But, due to the Selkath's tight immigration laws and rules on visitors, it was obvious that whatever their operation was on Manaan, the Crucible was not using it as a source of slaves. As such, Bolook had continued to investigate further, and by so doing had determined what was truly going on behind the scenes.

The Crucible presence on the planet was merely for profit, making vast sums of money that they sent back in order to keep the Crux happy. However, the way they did that was slightly alarming, at least from the Jedi's point of view. While their presence in the swoop bar had suggested it, Bolook had discovered that the Crucible also took a hefty dividend from the profits made from swoop racing. While this was illegal on most worlds, the fact that they had managed to accomplish it on Manaan no less was worrying to the extreme. By applying some pressure, and the Force, in the right places, Bolook had discovered what was truly going on here: someone in the High Court had put pressure on the swoop racing masters to pay the fee to the Crucible. And that hadn't been the only racketeering operation he had uncovered.

Due to Manaan being the only planet in the galaxy to produce kolto, the healing fluid, many private companies sold kolto privately, to governmental concerns, corporations and to the Republic. However, after interrogating kolto packaging plant workers, Bolook had discovered that a tattooed man had once overseen certain kolto transactions, and that the man hadn't been seen in a few days. Confident he was on the trail, Bolook had pursued the leads, without managing to upset the Selkath, and after extensive research in the library, he had come across this office, and had gathered a task force of security personnel to try to bring the Crucible members in. However, by the time he had gotten there, they had scarpered, stripping the office bare in their escape. So he now had no needs, a Crucible presence that had been on the world that had now vanished, and the possibility of corruption within the Selkath High Council, as someone had to have tipped the Crucible off as to what he was up to.

"Psst, Jedi." A voice called, and Bolook turned around to see an older man looking furtively up and down the corridor.

"How did you know I was a Jedi?" Bolook asked the grey haired man.

"Aside from the lightsaber which I can see sticking out your pocket, the way you hold yourself, and the way you get into trouble. I knew a few during the war too." The man said, and Bolook realised that this man must be talking about the Great Sith War.

"Very well. How can I help you citizen?" Bolook asked the man, and he leaned in closer.

"You're looking for the ones who were here. I can help. They're still on the planet, they didn't have much time before you showed up to crash their party. A member of the High Court tipped them off. Don't worry about him, Shelkar is on to him, he can't get rid of him but he can reduce his effectiveness. The ones you're looking for are in docking Bay Three, making a run for it. If you hurry you might catch them." The man said quickly, and Bolook looked at him curiously.

"Why should I believe you?" he asked slowly.

"Because I know who that lot are, they raided our camp during the war, and they're descended from the Sith. Which is enough reason for anyone. And I moved my wife and I to this world so we could get some peace and quiet, to forget about the war and grow old together. If the Crucible is here, that won't happen as easily. Hurry Jedi!" the man urged, and Bolook suddenly believed him.

"Thank you for your help. What is your name citizen?" he asked, and the man smiled at him.

"Sunry."

XX

The five judges sat sitting stonily at Bolook as he was placed in front of them.

"Jedi Bolook, we respect your order, but you must remember the Republic and the Jedi have no jurisdiction here, so we must wonder why you violated our laws by bringing a weapon into our city, incited violence within docking bay three, and also roped some of our own police detail into helping you." Leader Jhosa said.

"My apologies councilman. As I told you upon my arrival here, I am seeking a very dangerous slaving operation, which also had an outpost here on Manaan. When I came before you, you offered me whatever help I required, recognising that slavery is a blight that we must do all that we can to extinguish. As such, I made use of the resources you granted me for my mission and carried out an investigation. I discovered that the group known as the Crucible had a racketeering operation here on Manaan, skimming profits from both the swoop races and the kolto trade in order to fund their activities. While I can only guess," Bolook said significantly, watching as Duula squirmed a little, "as to how such an operation developed, I followed the leads to an office not far from here, only to find they had been tipped off to my arrival. As such, acting on a confidential tip off, I headed to bay three, and found the Crucible members preparing to depart. I closed the blast doors to stop them and they reacted violently, forcing me to use my lightsaber to defend myself and your own police officers. The situation escalated but we captured the slavers. While I apologise for smuggling in my lightsaber, it was necessary to use it to save lives, and further protect others."

The judges looked at each other, Duula still looking uncomfortable, and then Kota sighed.

"I suppose no harm was truly done, as you were clearly intending to keep them alive. You will be fined one hundred credits for smuggling in your weapon. You mentioned that someone tipped off the slavers?" he asked curiously.

"This is already known to us." Shelkar said grimly, and Bolook could feel Duula's fear.

"What?" Naleshekan demanded angrily, but Shelkar held his hand up for peace.

"This matter is over. Interrogate your slavers Jedi, and good luck in your mission. If you go to the warden in the cells you can pay your fine there." He said to Bolook.

"I thank you for your time, patience, wisdom and hospitality." Bolook said, bowing, before leaving the court room and hearing the doors shut behind him.

XX

Tooka looked at her informant, as if searching for any lie on his features. The fact that she found none worried her greatly.

"You're sure about all this?" Tooka asked, and the Ortolan nodded.

"Yes miss. The Crucible is cancelling all it's deals and selling all their slaves in one big go all to one person. They're shutting down all their operations too. Rumour has it that they're collecting everything on their capital in preparation for one big sale, then they're going to ground. Something's rattled them, rattled them good." Her informant told her, and she nodded.

Why would the Crucible be acting so worried? If they thrived on slaves, why cancel all their deals? From Zayne's information they knew of operations in the Koornacht Cluster and on Metellos, and above Pantomolin, but what was so bad that they were going to ground? Surely Zayne couldn't have gotten them that worried.

"I hope you appreciate all this information I'm giving you, they're very secretive, which usually means very dangerous. They have ears too you know." The Ortolan grumbled, and she nodded absently.

As far as she knew, the Crucible operation here had ended. Reports of farms standing empty had come in from the countryside, and it looked like a struggle had taken place in many of them, with entire families sometimes captured. Also, people had gone missing in the cities over the last few weeks as well, but they had stopped in the last week, and Tooka suspected that that was because the Crucible had also pulled out of Corellia too. The question now was why had they pulled out, and more importantly, where were they going?

"You will be paid for your efforts. Did you happen to hear where they were going?" she asked, and he looked around the crowded cantina worriedly, before leaning in close to the small Chadra-Fan.

"Outer Rim someplace, some paltry little world where they can work unnoticed. I heard from various sources who had it from other sources who had it from them that they were headed to a place called Dersonn III. It could be total poodoo for all I know, it's just what my guys heard. You alright Jedi?" he asked, as she suddenly looked very worried.

"Dersonn III...if it is then Zayne is walking right into a trap. Blast it." She grumbled, and went for her purse to pay the informant, so she could go and report on this.

A blaster bolt lanced right over her head, hitting the Ortolan right between the eyes. She cursed, flipping onto the table and blocking a second shot with her viridian lightsaber.

"Stand down!" she yelled over the screaming of the patrons as they tried to get out of the way of the blaster wielder.

She looked at her opponent, a Togorian, his fur marked with the blue flames of the Crucible. So much for her theory that they had all pulled out.

"What did you think Jedi? That we'd leave no one behind? We needed to cover our tracks!" he gloated, firing his blaster at random, and Tooka had no choice but to deflect them into the ceiling, for fear of hitting some of the innocent patrons who were cowering on the floor all around her.

"You mean the tracks leading to Dersonn III? Too late slaver. I know where your capital is now, and I will do everything in my power to make sure you are stopped." She vowed, readying her saber.

The Togorian growled and let loose with a flurry of blaster bolts, determined to hit the small Chadra-Fan, not caring about the panicking and screaming patrons huddled on the floor. But the Jedi was already gone, flipping to the floor and then spinning up into a flying leap, sending the lethal bolts ricocheting into the wall. She pirouetted in front of the Togorian, stabbing upwards and plunging her saber through his chest, stopping his deadly assault.

She then saw a flashing signal on his belt. Swearing to herself, she blasted the dying Togorian with a Force push, knocking him out onto the street from the underground cantina. Jumping up the stairs in a split second, she used the Force and sent the dying being into the air, just as the bomb attached to his waist exploded, rocking the entire street she was on as the fiery blast singed buildings.

"Blast them all. Right, deal with frightened patrons, then report." She said to herself, and headed inside to deal with the patrons who were nervously coming out of their hidey holes.

XX

The High Council itself was now involved in the investigations into the Crucible. Currently, the Council stood at only nine members. Recently, the firebrand Dorjander Kace had abandoned the Council, following Revan's call to go to the war with the Mandalorians. He had been replaced by Lucien Draay, who had been killed recently during Vindication. There hadn't been a full twelve members of the Council since the end of the Great Sith War, when so few masters remained to teach. Tott Doneeta had stepped down many years before, and the hero of the Great Sith War, Nomi Sunrider, had renounced her position after the Conclave on Exis Station in order to better teach her daughter, Vima.

Bala, Zhar and Qual were also members of the High Council, as were the other two Jedi Masters interchangeably linked with the Dantooine Enclave Council.

Master Vandar Tokare, a wise, kind and compassionate master of an unknown species. Having cleaned up the planet Kaikielius with two apprentices of his, he had become known as one of the most dependable and honourable masters in the Order, wielding two lightsabers as he fought against his enemies. He had been at the Battle of Toprawa, and had assumed command once Barrison Draay had been killed. He was also the master Zayne had depended upon to believe that he didn't kill his classmates, and the one he entrusted the protection of his family to when they were being persuaded by Raana Tey.

Master Vrook Lamar was a grumpy, irritable unappeasable individual. Strongly opposed to the Revanchist movement, he was a firm believer in the leadership of the Council, earning him a natural ally in Atris, and the two frequently joined forces to undermine any support the Councillors had for Revan's cause. It had been he who implied that if Dorjander Kace thought Revan was right, the only way he could help would be to stand down from the Council. Untrusting, it was he who had led the Jedi intervention into the Jedi Covenant.

The rest of the Council were based primarily on Coruscant, though Atris was seeking approval to reopen the Telosian Academy, and Kavar was currently looking for other sites the Jedi could inhabit.

Atris was the youngest member of the Council, white haired, strict and absolutely convinced that the Jedi were the key to doing right in the universe. Following the Sith War, she had argued for much stricter relationships between masters and padawans, and also called for a more austere Jedi Order, and was one of the main advocates of Jedi not having romantic relationships, and as such she had been appointed to the Council with Vrook's patronage. With the outbreak of the war, she had followed the Council's line to sit back and contemplate, antagonising the young Revan and Malak, and also creating a bitter divide with her former friend Meetra Surik when they had all gone off to war.

Lonna Vash was the last female on the Council. A great worker with the refugee relief movement, and also with various other charities, her philanthropy had attracted the interest of Ood Bnar before the Sith War, he had completed her training after her master was killed in the raid on Deneba, and she had become a knight just before the destruction of Ossus. Since then she had been a wise and fair member of the Council, acting as a restraint for the more conservative hardliners such as Vrook and Atris, and acting as a boost for the more conciliatory members such as Vandar and Qual.

Zez-Kai Ell was also one of the fairer members of the Council. A master of the double bladed lightsaber, he had adopted a wait and see approach when the Mandalorians had first announced themselves, a course of action he hadn't expected the entire Council to follow, let alone make doctrine. However, his apprentice had joined Revan and Zez-Kai had proudly told him to go and fight for what he believed in. Since Vindication, he had also kept a close eye on Zayne's progress, seeking to help him whenever possible, because he feared that with the Revanchists focusing on the Mandalorians and with the Council focusing on standing back, Zayne was doing what a Jedi ought to do: the right thing.

The Council was present, though Kavar, Qual, Bala and Zhar were all attending via hologram. They were also joined by the holographic forms of Bolook, Deesra and Tooka from their respective locations.

"So the reports are all much the same then. The Crucible is abandoning all of its operations, in preparation for a big auction to one single buyer. We're working under the assumption that once this sale has gone through, the Crucible will disband, go to ground and work in the shadows until everyone focuses on something else, and then most likely return with a vengeance. Correct?" Kavar asked, and received nods from the other three field agents.

"Where is it you said they were all heading, Master Tooka?" Vandar asked, frowning.

"A little world out near Hutt Space, called Dersonn III. It makes some sense if that truly is their capital, or even if it is just another slaving pen. The population there is small, and they aren't very advanced, the Crucible could easily set up a full fledged operation and the locals would be none the wiser." She explained.

Lonna nodded.

"She's right. I stopped over on that world once, I had an engine failure. It's small, out of the way, not very advanced, I had to wait two weeks for the part I needed. And besides, the local area makes navigating there a nightmare. They have an asteroid field that forms a natural shield around the system, there are ionic emissions from a nearby supernova that play havoc with sensors and their sun is prone to violent eruptions. It would be quite conceivable for a fortress to be on the world." She said darkly.

"Could it be their capital?" Zhar asked, and Deesra answered.

"It could very well be. The tracer I planted on the Crucible ship looks to be on a course for the planet, its stopped off on a few planets but they've failed to realise I put the tracer on them. From their course that is a highly likely destination." He said, and the masters looked at each other.

"Alright, if Dersonn III is their capital, then Zayne is walking into a trap. What is more, if that is true, their leadership must be there, preparing to sell the slaves on." Vrook commented, looking at the holomap Lonna had just brought up of Dersonn III.

"How many slaves are we looking at?" Atris asked.

"According to the information we have from Zayne there could be as many as ten thousand. Which of course begs the question as to who would want such a large number of slaves all at once?" Qual asked.

Bala frowned as she looked at the map of Dersonn III, a niggling in the back of her skull.

"Where is the planet exactly?" she asked, her voice cautious.

"Bala?" Zhar asked curiously.

"Near Gamorr." Bolook answered.

Bala then frowned, and Tooka suddenly realised what she was getting at.

"Display Dersonn in the galactic map, showing the current frontiers." She told the Council.

Lonna did so, and as the galactic map shimmered to life, it became apparent just who the mysterious buyer for all those slaves was.

"Mandalore." Zez-Kai breathed in shock.

The frontiers were boxing Dersonn III in. They currently showed that the area all around Hutt Space was contested, and the Mandalorians were known to be making a move towards Bothawui, which would be a good jump point for Dersonn III itself. Also, they were rumoured to have forces near Christophsis as well, and scouts had been spotted near Ord Pardon, as if preparing to attack the staging area there. Was it all just an elaborate trick to get them to Dersonn III?

"It makes perfect sense." Tooka breathed.

"Indeed. Let the Crucible, which is known for turning its slaves into killers, round up thousands of slaves. Strike a deal with Mandalore offering them the slaves. They invade Dersonn III and liberate the slaves. The slaves, already battle-ready, join the Mandies out of gratitude. Instant army." Deesra concluded grimly.

"Well we can't get involved." Vrook said flatly.

"Vrook, did you miss the part about ten thousand innocent slaves that they've captured?" Tooka demanded, glaring daggers at him. She had never gotten on with him.

"If Mandalore is indeed the prospective buyer, that means it isn't our problem. We aren't to get involved in the Mandalorian War." He said plainly.

"So because you prefer for the Order to sit on its haunches we can't do anything to free the slaves?" Tooka demanded angrily.

"Vrook is right Tooka. There is no place for the Jedi Order in the Mandalorian War. It's bad enough we've let so many off to fight as it is. If Mandalore is involved in this, then this is their problem." Atris said tartly.

"And when exactly will it become our problem? If Mandalore collects all those slaves, there'll be ten thousand more troops. They could overwhelm our armies, and if that happens we won't have a Republic, but at least our beliefs will be safe." Deesra grumbled, earning him a surprise look from the Council members, while Tooka suppressed a grin.

"The matter is not up for discussion." Vrook growled.

"Indeed it isn't. As Jedi, it is our duty to protect the innocent. Which is what those slaves are, as such, we will mount a mission to rescue them." Kavar said boldly.

"You can't! The Revanchists..." Vrook protested.

"Have nothing to do with the decision. If we happen to run into the Mandalorians while trying to free the slaves, there isn't much that we can do about it. It will be unfortunate, but it will be dealt with. Master Qual, can you assemble a task force from Jedi on Dantooine?" Kavar asked, and the Selkath nodded.

"Yes my friend. I believe a force of six will be enough?" he asked, and Kavar nodded.

"It ought to be. I will assemble the same number of Jedi here on Coruscant."

"Isn't that a bit excessive for the mission?" Vandar asked worriedly, and Kavar frowned.

"We don't know exactly what we're dealing with, and if the Revanchists aren't there, we'll need to defend against the Mandalorians and the Crucible at the same time, which will only spread us thin. If we are to be successful, and end the Crucible threat once and for all, we must be able to defend the slaves as well as attack the Crucible." He explained, and the small master nodded.

"But even if both you and Qual leave now, it will take you weeks to get there. We might not have that long." Tooka said worriedly, but Lonna shook her head.

"A ship can be guaranteed for a strike force. But that still won't help you Qual." She said with a frown.

"There's a blockade runner that's been called back to Rendili for works. If we hurry we can get on that and be at Rendili in a couple of days." Bala said musingly.

"That will serve I think. Tooka, can you make it to Rendili?" Zez-Kai asked, and she nodded.

"Yes, I'm on Corellia, it should take a day at most and that's only if I'm unlucky." She said.

Kavar nodded.

"Good. Bolook, leave for Rendili. We'll meet you there. Lonna, do whatever it is you were going to do. I'll summon Jedi to meet me at the spaceport in two hours." Kavar said, but Zez-Kai held up a hand.

"I will join you." He said, earning him a reproving glare from Atris.

"As will I, after I have a conversation." Lonna said, and Kavar nodded.

"Very well, I will see you at the spaceport." He said.

"Good luck, and may the Force be with you all." Vandar said, as the holos began winking out.

"And don't provoke the Mandalorians." Vrook grunted irritably as the others left the chamber.

**The plot thickens!**

**So, Mandalore is after the slaves of the Crucible, and now the Jedi are going to have to try and free them on Dersonn III. But there is trouble in paradise , as Zayne and Jarael are a little tense. Will it last? Meanwhile, the hunters and the Crucible are closing in on our heroes, and soon a mighty battle will rage!  
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**But until then there's at least one more chapter, so until then please read and review!  
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	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars (more's the pity)**

Crucicrux

"Greetings Senator Goravvus." Lonna said as Shel showed her into the senator's office.

"Master Vash, a pleasure to see you again. I must admit, I was intrigued by your message, how could I possibly be of help to the Jedi Order?" he asked, and she frowned.

"We find ourselves in need of your contacts Senator. I assume you have heard of Zayne Carrick's latest exploits?" she asked, and Goravvus nodded.

"Of course, we heard what he and Jarael did on Dagary Minor. But what does that have to do with the Order?" Goravvus asked, and Lonna frowned.

"Zayne has been investigating the Crucible, and his actions on Dagary Minor have led to a much larger investigation by the entire Order. The Crucible is a lot larger than we had previously anticipated, with operations on many worlds, whether they be slaving operations or racketeering operations in order to build up their resources and funds. While this investigation is continuing, we have learned that the Crucible is shutting down the vast majority of its operations, if not them all. It's closing up shop and we fear that they intend to go into hiding. As such, every one of their operations are now headed to Dersonn III in the Outer Rim, and we believe that the Crucible intend to sell all of their slaves to the Mandalorians, an event which could very well turn the tide of the war. Which is of course an event that we are keen to prevent." Lonna said, and Goravvus frowned.

"I can well understand why considering what the Mandalorians did to Taris, and from what Shel has told me of the Crucible we would do well to stop them. Zayne has gone to their capital world you say?" he asked worriedly, and Lonna nodded.

"We believe so, and we also believe that he doesn't know what he's walking in to. He doesn't know it's the capital, and as such, won't suspect the possibility of a trap." She said worriedly, and Shel frowned.

"Damn it. We'll contact Zayne and warn him, but with the Mandalorian front boxing in Dersonn III it might be difficult getting a message through. They assaulted Christophsis this morning, which means it could be difficult to bounce a message all the way to Zayne to warn him." She said nervously, fearing for her friends who could very well be walking right into the middle of a very hostile environment filled with extremely grouchy slavers.

Lonna frowned. The Mandalorians had moved faster than they had anticipated. If they now controlled Christophsis, it meant that they could now go the entire way around the Duflivian Sector, bypassing the intelligence base at Rishi and enter the Dersonn system from that direction. What was more, with Christophsis now under Mandalorian control, it meant that there would now be two avenues with which to attack the military base at Ord Pardon. Which would of course be the key to the entire area. Now Christophsis had fallen, all the Mandalorians had to do was finish off the remaining vestiges of Republic resistance in the area, by taking out the base at Ord Pardon and the patrolling fleet at Bothawui and they would easily be able to reach Dersonn III and what was worse, they would be able to hold it once they got their hands on the Crucible slaves.

""Senator, we are running out of time. The Mandalorians are on the move." Lonna said, and the green skinned senator nodded.

"Of course Master Vash, but what is it you require of me?" he asked.

"With your permission, we need a ship that will get us to Dersonn in time to help free the slaves, and if at all possible a civilian freighter fleet as well in order to help transport the slaves once we arrive. A Jedi strike force is being prepared and is en route to Rendili. Once there, we will make for Dersonn III to help Zayne with the slaves, but we will need help to do so. With the war going the way it is and the Mandalorians keeping up the pressure on the Mid Rim while also preparing for their strike on Dersonn III, the fleet is spread too thinly to be of any use to us, and we also don't want to give off false illusions of the rest of the Jedi getting involved in a wider Mandalorian War. As such, we were hoping to prevail upon your contacts to get us what we need in such a short space of time." Lonna said, and Goravvus looked at Shel, who nodded cautiously.

"A ship ought to be easy to acquire for a Jedi strike force, but the civilian fleet can only be met with the Rogue Moon Project, we don't have the ability to gather a large enough civilian force in order to transport the slaves." She said musingly, but Goravvus held up a finger.

"Leave that to me, I think I ought to be able to help there too. See to it Shel, and if need be, hire help, we can't allow those slaves to be harmed more than they already have. You are sure the Mandalorians are going to all this trouble just to get their hands on slaves?" Goravvus asked, and Lonna nodded.

"Yes senator. After all, the Crucible trains its slaves to fight. Which means all but the newest slaves will be fairly battle hardened, and able to instantly join the Mandalorians. An instant army, all they will need to do is get them armour, and then they can unleash them on the Republic that didn't protect them. That's why we think they're also heading around or through Hutt space in order to get to Dersonn, getting their hands on so many troops could potentially alter the course of the war in a very short space of time." She warned, and Goravvus frowned.

"Leave it with me master Jedi. We will get you to Dersonn, and we will stop these slaves being used by the Mandalorians. Shel, get to it." Goravvus said, and both the Jedi and his aide left the office together to prepare their plans.

XX

Dersonn III was a world of high ridges and mountains, with sheer winds buffeting the cliff faces every day, making scratching out a living on the world a rather difficult proposition. The mountains were cold, snowy and icy, their faces sheer and rugged, the caves offering little protection from the natural elements that made living here difficult.

However, despite the challenges presented by living here, the native Dersonni population had managed to make themselves a steady if not profitable existence. Emerging from their caves some centuries before, they had begun to build a great city within the largest crevice on the planet. The crevice dropped several thousand metres, just slightly above what would be ground level on most planets, and offered a warm respite from the cold sheer winds that plagued their mountainous home. Expanding all throughout the crevice, the planet's population was still small by galactic standards, only totalling at just over ten thousand inhabitants. Despite that however, the Dersonni had created elaborate pyramidal structures all throughout the crevice, creating a large city, protected by the highest mountain on the planet, and bordered by massive tundras and a large plateau that was also covered in snow. However, deep in the gorge, the city of Derse'un was safe, warm, welcoming and profitable, filled with not just the eleven and a half thousand Dersonni who inhabited the planet, but also by a few thousand immigrants to the world.

The Dersonni themselves were a furry species. Standing at just over a metre and a half tall, they were fairly humanoid in that they walked upright and spoke their own language, but other than that the similarities ended there. Their feet and hands were covered in silky, dark grey fur, with long claws extending from each of them. A large thick ruff of white fur covered their shoulders and neck, while the rest of their lower body was covered in fine black fur. Their faces were canine like and pointed, with pointed ears with white tufts in contrast to their light grey face, their eyes marked with white spots. And a large bushy tail emerged from their rear, which could be wrapped around them for extra warmth. They were a pleasant and welcoming species in general, and were always eager to help any newcomers to their planet despite the fearsome appearance given by their claws and their sharp pointed teeth.

Due to the nature of the world, those wishing to leave the gorge were few and far between. However, the local spaceport was built into the large mountain that overlooked the gorge, and as such, national service, requiring three year long periods at the top of the mountain in the spaceport had been introduced. While the spaceport itself was warm and fairly busy in its own way, it did get much colder in the winter months, the sheer winds pounding the mountain, making it difficult to anchor the various docked ships, any delivery or trade runs to the outside galaxy required the hardy natives to venture out onto the landing platforms they had cut into the mountain which was very risky, ships could easily be blown from the pads, and even when all that was done, the access to the gorge was very dicey as well. The large elevator platforms were large enough to accommodate around one hundred people if not more at a time, but they were known to freeze up halfway through a journey, necessitating difficult recovery operations. While there were around ten of these elevators, there were also two large sets of stairs that had been hewn into the mountain which were also very risky for travelling either up or down.

However, despite the hardships, they made new visitors welcome. Not that those on the _Hot Prospect_ would notice as they had spent the entire time since they had landed sniping at each other.

Jarael, still convinced that Zayne and Surik had been flirting when they had been aboard their cruiser had been arguing virtually non stop, while Zayne, angry at her attitude, had been retaliating in annoyance with her attitude. As such it had been a relief when they had landed on the planet, and after paying the confused looking deck hand, they had returned to their squabble.

"For the last time, I'm not interested in her, and if she is in me, well that's just tough luck because I'm in love with you. I'm beginning to wonder why, but I am." Zayne snapped irritably, and Jarael glowered.

"Oh don't play the innocent Zayne. Admit it, you like having her make a fuss of you." She said irritably, and Zayne rolled his eyes.

"Was it nice to be treated as an equal rather than a court jester for a change? Yes, it was, I'm not denying that. What I am denying is the fact that she was coming on to me, she was being friendly and acting like an equal rather than a master or someone who knows better than me. I don't fancy her, and I'm fed up of having his same argument!" he yelled, and she grunted in exasperation, before taking a deep breath and smiling mock sweetly.

"Fine. We do here what we came here to do. Let's go and see if the Crucible has any presence on the world shall we?" she asked, donning her cold weather gear and picking up her shockstaff. Zayne growled in frustration, sweeping his hair behind his ear and made sure he had his lightsaber before he too braved the elements in order to join her.

XX

Hanharr growled as he watched from his ship. That was his prey, right there. His instincts were right, they had come to the capital of the Crucible. The Crux were not going to be happy about this, not happy at all.

Watching as Zayne and his mate headed for the elevator, heads bowed against the biting cold wind, Hanharr quickly scanned the area. The only bounty hunter ships remaining other than his were the one belonging to Besakhar and the one belonging to the Moomo Brothers, who apparently hadn't paid for their fuel and hence their ship was impounded as a result. The Twin Suns and Vrak were nowhere to be found, which suited him. The only competition he could conceivably have would be that of Besakhar, who was a fairly good hunter in his own right. But Hanharr was better.

And now, he had Carrick and his girl in his sights, and he wouldn't allow them to escape this planet without getting his bounty. Sheathing his swords, the Wookiee left his ship in order to follow Carrick and to keep an eye on his prize.

XX

"I'm afraid that the Carrick boy is here on Dersonn III." Besakhar reported and both Qui La and Vuquoa looked furious at this news.

"He is here on the planet? We must kill him before we are discovered!" Qui La urged, her fat face flushed with colour.

"No! We are too close now, all we need to do is keep the boy distracted for a while and then, when Mandalore arrives to buy the slaves, we can feed him to Cassus Fett. We cannot risk the boy interfering in the deal. Keep an eye on him, kill him if you can, but do not let him discover us, or all is lost!" the Ryn leader snapped to the Anoo-Dat, who bowed.

"I will do as you command." He promised, and Qui La glowered at Vuquoa.

"Wouldn't we be better to send out the skyreaper drones and kill the boy?" she demanded, and the Ryn rolled his eyes before fixing her with an angry glare.

"There's a bright idea. Thanks to that liberal little brat, the Jedi are on to us, and most likely the Republic. That's why we've shut down all operations in the core and pulled out here because they don't know us out here, but something makes me think a swarm of skyreapers might attract undue attention, don't you?" he growled, and Qui La scowled.

"It was just a suggestion. The boy has dismantled nearly everything, how did he find us here so quickly?" she demanded in a panic.

"Simple luck I believe. However, we should be safe if we avoid attracting any attention, keep our operations hidden, recall all the agents out in the city so they do not get noticed. And it also means we will need to send back the Dersonni slaves we captured." The Ryn snarled angrily, his black tail twitching as he stroked his goatee musingly.

"Send them back? Won't we be discovered?" Qui La asked, and he gave her a sinister smile.

"Not if we send them back in pieces, by the time they assemble them all, it will be much too late." He said, and the Gossam smiled.

"And what of the boy?" Besakhar asked, and the Ryn and the Gossam narrowed their eyes.

"Keep an eye on him, kill him, kidnap him, shove him off the mountain, we don't care just deal with him!" Vuquoa snapped as the holo flickered off.

Besakhar smiled excitedly. He had the boy in his sights, and full leave to go and kill him. Now all he had to do was put the boy down like the annoying rodent he was, and then he would collect his pay and ensure a lot of future work from the Crucible. He did enjoy this sort of hunt. Scenting the air with his forked tongue, he headed for the gorge to locate the boy and kill him.

XX

"It would seem sister that the handsome rogue went back the way we came." Teera'aa, the blue skinned member of the Twin Suns stated.

"You are correct sister. He and the beautiful offshoot. It doesn't matter though does it sister?" the red skinned Seera'aa asked, and Teera'aa shook her head, smiling as she did so.

"No sister it does not. For we shall kill the beautiful offshoot, and then once we have had our fun with the handsome rogue, kill him too." She purred, and set the ship's course back towards Dersonn III.

XX

"I'm telling you Dob, I saw them!" Del yelled, looking at his blue scarfed brother urgently.

"Well I didn't, how do I know this isn't some trick to make off with the ship?" Dob demanded, glaring at his red scarfed brother.

"I can't make off with the ship doofus, the Dersonni have clamped it, don't be so stupid!" Del snapped, and Dob glowered.

"You take that back!" he ordered.

"No, because you are stupid!"

"No, you're stupid!"

And so the two brothers reverted to violence once more, beating each other senseless while the other hunters closed in on their prey.

XX

Vrak, the Nikto bounty hunter hired by the Crucible to track down and kill Zayne Carrick, snarled. It appeared as if the young boy hadn't been anywhere near the sites where he thought he had been, which was incredibly frustrating. He had narrowed down all the possible locations the boy could have been, and that only left him with one possible outcome. The boy was heading to Dersonn III, right to the capital of the Crucible.

Vrak smiled grimly. If the boy was indeed on the capital word of the Crucible, he would soon learn exactly what it meant to cross beings such as them. But in order to attain that, he had to be there on Dersonn III. So, spinning the ship around, the Nikto headed back the way he came.

XX

The Rogue Moon Project had been set up by Zayne and Shel following the conclusion of the Covenant Affair in order to help the wrongly accused, the refugees or other such people who luck didn't seem to be on the side on when no one else would. However, due to Zayne's rising feelings for Jarael and the ever expanding Mandalorian War they had also become much more of an intelligence operation, helping Zayne and Jarael in their attempt to bring down the Crucible, while also keeping their ear to the ground for news of what the Mandies were up to this week and helping out the Republic in other ways. Now however, they were frantically trying to contact Zayne before he walked right into the open arms of the Crucible.

"We can't raise him Shel. Though that may be due to the Mandies hitting a comm relay near Druckenwell." Gharn's father said miserably, and Shel frowned.

True, she and Zayne were long split up, but he was still her friend and she did still care about him, and she had no desire to see him trapped in the hands of slavers of any sort.

"Damn. Are there any of our forces in the area that could help?" she asked, and Kamlin's sister frowned as she read the data that she had 'borrowed' (some would say hacked but that was such a strong word) from the Republic military database and turned to Shel.

"Apparently the _Testament _is already en route to Dersonn III." She reported, and Shel fought down a slight flutter of emotion, one she couldn't identify.

Part of it was worry. After all, the _Testament _was Malak's flagship, and if he was en route to Dersonn III, Shel didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing. Malak was fairly headstrong, and finding out Zayne was now in a relationship with Jarael might rub the prideful Jedi up the wrong way. He was also more powerful and a lot more fiery than Zayne, which could spell trouble for him if he were in a bad mood. Another part of her feelings were relief. With Zayne potentially heading into the nexu den with regards to the Crucible, having a Hammerhead cruiser nearby couldn't go wrong, and having extra Jedi support might protect Zayne and Jarael. The other part of her feelings were the cause for the slight blush on her cheeks, which she hastily tried to hide.

"Well I suppose that' something, but either way Zayne is now heading right into the suspected homeworld of the Crucible blind, and we have no way of warning them, especially since we can't risk any other sort of communication without inviting the Mandies." She said nervously, and one of the staff looked at her curiously.

"But aren't they already heading there anyway?" they asked, and Shel frowned.

"Yes, but if they hear that there's Jedi travelling to the world, they might move quicker than we want, and that will get Zayne and the slaves killed, which is what we don't want to happen. So even if Malak is heading there, we can't do anything to warn Zayne of the trouble he might be in." She said nervously, cursing as she headed to the comm station.

"We could always ask for help." Kamlin's father stated and Shel sighed in resignation.

"I know, the fact that I know it's for the best doesn't do anything to make me look forward to this more." She said with a sigh.

She contacted Goodvalor's Little Bivoli, the restaurant chain that Gryph owned as a result of the Battle of Serroco. While his communication equipment was just the same as Shel's and the Rogue Moon Project's, he had access to a hell of a lot more. With senators, military staff and others all frequenting his restaurant, even if Gryph didn't have the capability to contact Zayne, as all his tables were bugged and the right people were bribed, he certainly had the means in order to get access to a communicator with the range they needed in order to warn Zayne.

"Goodvalor's, are you requesting a table or ordering take out?" Slyssk asked, and Shel rolled her eyes.

"Neither Slyssk, it's Shel. Put Gryph on please, we need his help." She asked the Trandoshan, who gave a noise of assent before transferring them to Gryph.

"What is it Maiden, I'm up to my ears in customers here, running a business like this isn't easy you know!" Gryph said as he came online.

"Well it will be a lot more difficult if your partner can't help you." She said waspishly to get his attention, and it worked immediately.

"What do you mean, is Zayne in trouble?" he asked, his voice growing concerned rather than irritable.

"Yes. He's gone to Dersonn III with Jarael. The problem is all of our evidence points to Dersonn being the temporary capital of the Crucible. He's walking right into the place that's filled with people wanting to kill him, and what's more, there's a Mandalorian armada on the way to take the slaves off the planet and turn them against the Republic, and Zayne and Jarael are caught in the middle of it all." She explained worriedly, and she could just imagine the Snivvian going pale as she reported this news, his fur flattening in terror.

"Zayne's going to be caught in the midst of a fight between the nastiest slavers in the galaxy and the Mandalorians?" he demanded anxiously.

"No, Zayne is going to be fighting with the nastiest slavers in the galaxy and their Mandalorian buddies." She said grimly, and Gryph groaned.

"I've taught him nothing! Didn't he learn on Vanquo not to get caught up in Mandalorian invasions? And after all the trouble with Chantique, he should have given this up ages ago! And now he's walked right into the yap of trouble!" he yelled, while Shel nodded, she certainly couldn't disagree with that assessment.

"Exactly, the two of them are in danger, but because the Mandies have taken out the comm relay in the Mid Rim we don't have any way to contact him to warn him." She explained, and Gryph made a noise of realisation.

"So you need me to see who I can bribe into lending a hand?" he asked excitedly.

"Exactly. Because if we don't get on top of this Gryph, we're all kinds of screwed. If the Mandalorians get a hold of all the slaves on Dersonn, the war will turn against us, the Crucible will disappear and what's more, Zayne and Jarael will get killed." She explained nervously, and Gryph groaned.

"Typical. When I get my hands on him, him and I are going to have a long talk about how to bluff your way out of trouble, and rule number one of that is not going after your grilfriend's former very nasty employers!" he said grouchily.

"Can you get someone to help?" Shel asked worriedly, and Gryph made a musing noise as he scanned the crowd.

"Actually, yes, we're in luck. Give me a while." He said, and hung up, leaving Shel to look at the readouts of the world of Dersonn III, and also to study the mounting size of the Mandalorian forces heading towards the world, where Zayne and Jarael would both be trapped.

XX

"This intelligence is good?" Admiral Sommos, who had been enjoying her meal until she had been approached by the Snivvian proprietor asked, reading the datapad he had given her.

"Yep. The Jedi are acting on it, which gives you some clue as to what to do with it. What's more, the Revanchists are at least interested in it, after all, if the Mandies are trying to get their hands on an instant army, then what better way to do it than by going to Dersonn? It would explain why they've taken Christophsis and are headed for Bothawui, along with taking out the Mid Rim comm relay. Trust me admiral, things are about to go down on Deronn III." Gryph explained, and the elder, grey haired admiral narrowed her grey eyes.

"You present a good case for what they are up to. It would also fit with what Intelligence has learned, that there is a fleet of Mandalorian ships, manned by skeleton crews, waiting near Mandalore. If you and the Jedi are right in your theory, then the slaves they would get from the Crucible would be used to man these new ships, the entire frontier would collapse. Even with the help of the Revanchists, we wouldn't be able to protect the Mid Rim from such an onslaught, and combined with the attacks that we are already dealing with, the Mandalorians would enter the Core within weeks. A most intriguing plan." She said, her brow furrowed.

"Exactly. We need help admiral, my partner is going to be on Dersonn when the poodoo hits the fan, and then there's going to be hell to pay no matter who wins or loses." He said, and she scowled.

"You are quite right. Very well. Tell your friends that I will be holding a holo conference within the hour and they are welcome to join me. We need to see exactly what we are dealing with." Sommos said, and made to pay for her meal, but Gryph waved her away.

"No fee admiral, not when you could save a couple of my friends. And if we manage it, consider your next three visits on the house." He assured her, patting her hand.

Sommos gave him a small smile.

"You're very kind Mr Hierogryph. I will contact you within the hour." She informed him as she swept from the restaurant.

"Will she be able to help?" Slyssk asked, and Gryph shrugged.

"I don't know, but I hope so." He said grimly as he watched Sommos get into a hovercar and drive away.

XX

"You are convinced of this Master Kavar?" Admiral Sommos asked at the holoconference an hour later.

Upon returning to the Admiralty and alerting the Admiral of the Fleet to the danger they were now in, she had called the Jedi, the Rogue Moon Project and the Revanchists in order for them to discuss their next move. Gryph, leaving the restaurant in Slyssk's hands, had joined the project in the bunker with Senator Goravvus as she consulted with them on their course of action.

"Yes admiral, our various investigations point to the Crucible beginning to cut and run. They're packing up all of their operations and are bound for Dersonn III. We believe, after the transaction is completed they will disband only to return when the heat is no longer on them." The Council member explained, and Sommos frowned.

"We clearly cannot let such a dangerous slaving operation get away with something of this scale, and the thought of them transferring all of those slaves to join the Mandalorians is a threat we could seriously do without. The problem is, with the fleet as spread out as it is fighting off each one of their invasion corridors, we don't have the resources to spare to send any sizeable force to Dersonn III to prevent the supposed transaction between the Mandalorians and the Crucible." She explained darkly.

Revan turned to look at the admiral, his black mask betraying nothing.

"Malak has taken the _Testament_ to Dersonn III, we felt something big was about to go down there. But, if the intelligence is right and the Mandalorians do intend to perform such a big operation, then one cruiser isn't going to do much against what is bound to be a Mandalorian armada. Especially if the Crucible has their own ships and are determined enough to fight." He said grimly, and Sommos nodded.

Goravvus looked at Kavar.

"Master Kavar, how soon can the Jedi task force get to Dersonn?" he asked, and Kavar pondered.

"Even if we leave straight away, I doubt we could get there to make much headway. Besides, the _Reciprocity _isn't a warship, it's basically a landing craft, it won't be able to help much against a Mandalorian armada." He reasoned.

"Could we perhaps mount an operation to get the slaves out before the Mandalorians arrive?" Sommos asked, but Goravvus shook his head.

"I'm afraid not. While I did convince the new head of Lhosan Industries to prepare a transport fleet for the slaves while threatening to expose their role in Taris' acceptance into the Republic if he didn't, he did say that he would endanger his civilian flotilla in any way. He wants an armed escort for the ships, and a guarantee of no Mandalorian attacks at the other end when they get to Dersonn." He explained, and Sommos seethed.

"That further complicates things, we don't have the resources to escort a civilian flotilla either, and with the threat of a Mandalorian invasion looming over Dersonn Lhosan Industries won't send in their fleet unless we secure the area of Mandalorians first." She grumbled.

"And we've received reports of a Mandalorian fleet massing near Ord Pardon, they most likely intend to hit the military base there." Meetra concluded.

"Which means we will have even less ships available to send to Dersonn to help Zayne." Shel said nervously.

Sommos frowned, considering their options. They were short on time and on resources, but Dersonn was clearly about to become pivotal to the war effort. If they failed to stop the Crucible, then the Mandalorians would receive a massive boost of troops, materiel and morale, which could destabilise the Republic's entire war effort in the Mid Rim, virtually inviting the Mandalorians into the area surrounding the Core. But they didn't have enough forces available in order to stop the Mandalorians once they reached Dersonn. With the battles on Christophsis, Bothawui and the Mandalorians preparing to hit the military staging area at Ord Pardon, they simply couldn't deal with this threat without leaving one area undefended. And while she was now in command of the Coruscant Sector Fleet, she also couldn't deploy any ships from those fleets without causing massive panic in the Core, creating massive problems with the senate and also leaving the Core open to a possible Mandalorian attack, which they needed like a poke in the eye at the moment.

"With the loss of Christophsis, we now have more ships available, bad though it sounds. With the loss on that front, that leaves me to go to Dersonn to help fend them off." Revan said, and Sommos nodded.

"Very well. But even with your considerable task force there might not be enough to stop the Mandalorians." Sommos warned, and Meetra frowned.

"What fleets are near enough to Dersonn to get there in order to help? I mean with the Crucible most likely having their own forces and the Mandalorians on the way we need everything we can get our hands on." She said, and Revan seemed to sag tiredly.

"Admiral Karath has most of his sector fleet based at Ord Pardon, which is where the rest of Malak's fleet is. My fleet has just lot Christophsis, meaning we're free. We also have Berkona's small task force with us, which we could also call on. Ferroh is taking his fleet to reinforce Ord Pardon and so is Talvon, but the others are all spread too far out, or are fighting in the other invasion corridors to be of much use. There aren't even any other ranking officers around here at the moment, Karath is the only one nearby." He explained, and Sommos shook her head. She hated multifront wars, they made fighting a hell of a nuisance.

"Wait a minute, what about Bothawui?" Shel asked curiously.

"Yeah, I better not be the only one defending the planet." Meetra said irritably, and Gryph suspected Revan was grinning under his mask with the annoyed tone her voice had taken.

"You aren't, Nisotsa is on her way to reinforce the planet with you, so is Xaset, but neither of them have that large a task force since the battle at Boz Pity last week." He explained, and Sommos frowned.

The idea that had just come to mind could work, but it would require a lot of luck, and a lot of persuasion in order to accomplish it, but she did indeed believe that they could get it to work.

"Revan, how large are the task forces of Nisotsa and Xaset Terep?" she asked.

"About three Hammerheads and support ships each, why?" he asked, and she nodded grimly.

"Which is much the same size as Meetra's task force correct?" she asked, and Revan nodded, as Goravvus' eyes widened.

"You plan to get one of the fleets towards the Core to go to Bothawui to rendezvous with those two task forces, while Meetra heads to Dersonn to reinforce Zayne." He said in realisation.

Gryph nodded, grinning eagerly.

"That's brilliant. Because it's Bothawui, which is a rich planet and because it was them who exported the new engines for the new Chela fighters, you can justify positioning a fleet there without having to answer to the Senate." He exclaimed, and Sommos nodded.

"That's the plan. The Senate won't want it to look like we don't protect our friends when they do us a favour. Commodore Cede can take the Expansion Region Defence Fleet to reinforce Bothawui, while Surik heads to Dersonn to stop the Mandalorians." She explained, to general nods.

"That seems fair. We shall push ourselves to arrive as soon as we can, but there's no telling when we actually will arrive." Kavar explained, but Revan waved it off.

"We ought to be fine. And with both Talvon and Ferroh heading to reinforce Ord Pardon, along with Karath's already large fleet there, I believe that it will only be a small risk in sending Malak's fleet to Dersonn as well." Revan concluded.

"Doesn't that risk the Mandalorians attacking the planet?" Shel asked, and Revan shook his head.

"It shouldn't do. After all, they're only marshalling at the moment anyway, otherwise they would have attacked already. Talvon should be there within a few hours anyway, so it is a small but calculated risk. So, I'll set a course for Dersonn, Meetra, once Nisotsa arrives, you can head here too. I'll send work to Telettoh and have him join us at Dersonn, that should be more than enough to fend off the Mandalorians." Revan concluded.

"That still leaves us the problem of escorting the civilian flotilla." Goravvus reminded them.

"We send them to Ord Pardon." Meetra said boldly, and Goravvus looked at her in surprise.

"Are you mad? That puts civilian ships right in the way of a possible Mandalorian attack." He said in shock.

"So far, the Mandies are just rallying. And what's more, with all the ships en route to Ord Pardon, combined with Admiral Karath's already rather large fleet, there should be more than enough ships in order to protect them, he may even be able to deploy a ship or two to give them their armed escort to Dersonn once the battle is over." She reasoned, and Sommos nodded.

"She is right, I'll need to order him into it though, he won't cooperate otherwise. So, we have a plan, one that we can make work. I will send Commodore Cede to replenish the defences at Bothawui, where he will rendezvous with Nisotsa and Xaset Terep. Surik will head to Dersonn once one of the other task forces arrive. Malak's fleet will be ordered from Ord Pardon to head to Dersonn, leaving Admiral Karath to defend the planet with help from Ferroh and Talvon Esan. The civilian flotilla will head there and will be escorted out once the way is clear. Meanwhile, the Jedi will head to Dersonn to aid in the situation. While they do that, Revan will also head to Dersonn with Berkona to also help in the battle there. I will get the ball rolling, and get Cede to Bothawui as soon as possible. I need not remind you of the great danger we are in should this fail. Or that if we have been deceived and this threat doesn't exist, all our heads will be rolling. May the Force be with you." Sommos said, before her holo flickered out.

"May the Force be with you my friends. Until Dersonn." Kavar said, giving them a respectful nod before he too vanished.

"Right, we have a battle to get to. I'll also hijack Berkona, he only has five ships, they won't miss them. See you." Revan said, before also vanishing.

"May the Force be with us, and with Zayne." Meetra said before she too disappeared, leaving the Rogue Moon Command, Gryph and Goravvus looking at each other nervously.

"I'll just come out and say it. I have a bad feeling about this." Shel said nervously.

Gryph frowned nervously. He also had a bad feeling about this. Zayne and Jarael were about to be caught on a planet which was about to be bartered off to the Mandalorians, along with being the site for a coming showdown between the Republic and the Mandalorians. And to top things off, Malak was there, and considering how the brute felt about Jarael he could only imagine his presence there would cause problems between his two friends as well. And add that to the group of slavers who wanted to kill them for wrecking their organisation, and the odds didn't look good for his partner or even his partner's partner.

He had a bad feeling about this.

"You better be alright henchman." He said grimly, as Shel hugged herself and Goravvus laid a hand on Gryph's shoulder as they watched the readouts on Dersonn III, where so many fates would be decided.

XX

Malak had taken the _Testament_ to Dersonn III, leaving Captain Telettoh to command the rest of his fleet, transferring his flag to the _Conviction_ while Malak headed to Dersonn to rendezvous with Zayne and Jarael. As the _Hammerhead_ class cruiser dropped out of lightspeed above the shining bright world, seeing the massive mountain ranges that riddled the planet's surface, Malak smiled as he felt the familiar presence of Zayne and Jarael in the force, the bright cheery optimism of Zayne and the sassy, seductive feel of Jarael.

But, he wasn't blind to other realities. He could sense a rising threat in the Force, and deep beneath the surface of the planet, there was pain, desperation, hopelessness, despair. There was darkness coming here to Dersonn III, and Malak had a bad feeling they were going to be caught right in the middle of it.

XX

"Magisters!" the voice said from outside the door, and the two remaining members of the Crux glared at the interruption, suppressing the urge to kill the person who was currently banging on the door, waiting to get in.

Their room was in the very summit of one of the smaller mountain ranges. Unearthed by an avalanche several years ago, Delakinn had found the place and had thought it the perfect location for a new base for the Crucible. Working only at night, it had taken them a while to dig far enough into the mountain in order to make the cavern system he had found habitable, but once they had protected themselves from cave ins, the Crucible had moved in, without the Dersonni population being any the wiser. Protected as they were from any view from the city or the spaceport due to the southern pointing entrance, they could easily get people and transports in and out, and all their incoming ships had to do was go around from behind the moon and descend from there, using the mountains as natural cover. It was the perfect location for them, hiding in plain sight, unbothered by the Dersonni natives, and ever since the debacle at Osadia, it was also their capital world, meaning a lot more resources were here than there ordinarily would have been.

Deep within the cave, there were dozens of levels, built deep into the bowels of the mountain, all of them rife with slave pens. Level upon level of pens, of cages, where the slaves lived, fought and died. Their cells were small, barely big enough for some of them, with only a mat and a bucket in each one. They fought all day, fought all night sometimes too. There was no medicine, wounds were either lived with or allowed to fester, if they survived, they were either impaired or stronger, if not, they died. Illness spread easily, and the Crucible needed healthy slaves. So, if someone caught a cold, they were taken out into the snow and killed brutally, shot, dismembered and then burned. Filth and the smell of despair had taken hold in the mountain, in the three massive caverns beneath the small section of the range that the Crucible had made their home.

And the fights were the worse ever seen in the galaxy. It wasn't just fighters who were imprisoned by the Crucible. The young, the old, the sick, the infirm, all were there. Beings of all species, from Jawas all the way up to Barabels and Wookiees, all fought each other in so many different ways, all of them battling for survival. If you won, you lived. If you didn't, you died. Sometimes the guards would kill just for the fun of it. Young children were forced to fight grown adults, and even then there was no respite. Even their deaths were a form of torture, their spirit and body both broken, their mind destroyed by what they had seen. The pits were dirty, bloody and savage, with people willing to do anything in order to survive. If some survived, some were lucky enough to be transported to allies of the Crucible, where they at least had more of a chance. But, all were refugees, all were people who wouldn't be missed, people no one cared about, so it didn't matter what the Crucible or their friends did to them, as long as they did it. Screams and cries punctured the air every night, the slaves were alone, friendless and terrified, dreading the dawn where they would have to fight all over again, another chance for their fragile holds on what was left of their reality to break.

The slave levels were stinking pits of filth, excrement, blood, disease and despair, the slaves had no hope, stuck in the dark mountain, tormented by their captors as they were. Many prayed for death, many took their own lives, and if they should fail, they would wish they hadn't. Screams and howls of pain from the myriad of species were shut in every night, all of them trapped within their cells and their own minds while their masters lorded it on the upper levels.

While the despair and filth of the slave levels was far below, the security forces, the mechanics and the crews of their various vessels had the nicer rooms up the top. Large enough to be comfortable, the various species that served the Crucible and its associates (beings such as Koorivar, Weequay, Trandoshans, Krish, Sanyassans, Skrillings and other such unsavoury beings) had modest rooms with a few creature comforts. The levels got smaller as they headed towards the summit, with the commanders of the Crucible weapons and ships all having much larger venues than their subordinates, but compared to the state the slaves were in, all of them were living in palaces. The attendants were employed to keep guard over the slaves, bullying them, torturing them, beating them, in some cases killing them, and often not because of anything other than a lack of something for them to do. The attendants and security forces made the lives of the slaves even worse, delighting in their situation and further treading them into the ground.

At the top of the middle mountain were the quarters of the Crux members, just above the fairly vast hangar levels. Though three of the Crux were now dead, the two remaining were living it up, and with the entire force of the Crucible here, they were incredibly well protected.

With the mess Zayne and Jarael had made, the Crux had opted to shut down all their operations, sever all ties with all remaining business partners (insisting on a hefty severance fee of course and killing those who didn't respond) and take all of their materiel, supplies and resources to one location. From there, they would sell all of the slaves that they had in bulk to one big buyer and then disappear before Carrick and his band could further destroy their operations.

Those reasons were now why all fifteen thousand Crucible slaves were now gathered in the bowels of their mountain ranges. Due to no facility but Volgax having such a site large enough to accommodate them, they had had to improvise, after all, Volgax they had been forced to abandon, hence they had now stuck every single member of the slave population in the cells that reached deep into the chasms of the three small mountains. As such, there were now three if not five slaves to a single cell, all of them waiting for the arrival of the Mandalorians.

Following Osadia, Qui La had told both Delakinn and Vuquoa of the danger they faced. Zayne had been dismantling the Crucible piece by piece, with the assistance of Jarael, and they were taking massive losses of both credits and slaves, which was unacceptable. Fearing the continued decline of the Crucible following the loss of Chantique and Bar'nijar, the three remaining members of the Crux had decided to close up shop, go into hiding, at least until the end of the Mandalorian War, and then return and start over. This move of course meant a lot of work, after all, fifteen thousand slaves couldn't be made to disappear, and killing them would attract far too much attention. As such, Qui La had struck gold with an idea. With the Mandalorian losses on Jebble, along with apprehension in the Mandalorian ranks now the Jedi had entered the war, the Mandalorians would be most likely very willing to look elsewhere for help. With the Republic trapping them in a stalemate, the obvious decision would be to get more troops, but they had been having trouble overcoming the enemy in order to conquer new worlds. As such, she had made several calls, and had eventually been put through to Mandalore himself. A bargain had been struck. In exchange for millions, safety and protection, along with a good post-war position should the clans win, the Crucible would give the Mandalorians every single slave they had before they disappeared into the ether. The Crucible won either way. If the Mandalorians won, they would be in their good graces for many years, and be able to flourish once again. And if the Republic won, they would be so busy dealing with the repercussions of the sale to bother the Crucible, and be too busy cleaning up the galaxy to bother them when they returned. Win win.

As a result, the entire Crucible, everything from the lowliest slave to the most powerful Crux member were now here on Dersonn III, the entire army and navy gathered and the place swarmed by skyreaper drones, which were produced in the furnaces built into the slope of the mountain behind them and accessed by long tunnels, the Crucible was at the safest and most powerful it had ever been, despite the chaos the leadership was in.

However, the entire force of the Crucible being here did have some downfalls. Like the damn fool knocking on the door.

The two Crux members were currently in Vuquoa's quarters, filled with long, deep red couches and exotic pieces of military art. A lift accessed the hangar levels below, giving him quick access to his ship in case of an emergency. On the wall hung the weapons of beings he had killed, or slaves he had broken. The first was a bloodied knife made of stone, the first weapon he had used when he was in the pits. Using his tail, he had distracted each and every foe with his hands before using the tail to slit their throat. That knife was among his favourite weapons, among the others was a sniper rifle he took from an assassin droid, a Mandalorian minigun, an Echani rocket launcher, a Sith poison blade, a Jedi sword thousands of years old, and two lightsabers. The Ryn had never told anyone where he had got them, all anyone knew was he had two, one red and one green. Rumour had it that he had murdered a Sith Lord in hand to hand combat during the Great Sith War, one of the Mercosa Order Sith Lords that Exar Kun had used for assassinations. He had brutally murdered the owner, mutilating her body and took the lightsaber for himself. The blue lightsaber had been from a Jedi who had fallen into the hands of the Crucible while Vuquoa had been on Volgax. The Jedi had challenged Vuquoa, and the Ryn had been merciless and had ripped his head off, taking the lightsaber for his own. Rumour had it that he had another stashed somewhere but no one had ever seen it, but Qui La was beginning to wish he would use it on the fool outside.

"What?" she snapped, and the Krish hurried in, looking flustered.

"Speak quickly, the longer you speak, the longer you live." Vuquoa snapped, and the Krish gulped.

"Magisters, we are undone! A Republic warship has arrived in orbit!" he exclaimed, and the Gossam looked at the Ryn in alarm.

"We are discovered! We must leave at once!" she exclaimed, but the Ryn silenced her with a look before turning to the Krish.

"What is it doing?" he asked, keeping his cool.

"Moving into stationary position above the planet." He reported, and Vuquoa frowned, pondering, then smiled.

"Why are you smiling, do you not realise our peril, we are about to lose everything!" Qui La bellowed, until Vuquoa slapped her in the face with his tail.

"Silence! Keep your head...or lose it for good." He snarled, and the Gossam glowered.

"Excuse me, but I hardly think a Republic cruiser arriving in orbit is cause for celebration." She sneered, and he smiled.

"One cruiser is. Consider. They at least suspect we are here, they're probably here to back up the boy and Jarael. If they knew more, we would have a fleet knocking on the door. We don't, all there is is one single ship. We are quite safe from them, at least for the moment. But you're right, we must prepare to leave. This is what we are going to do. You are going to call the Mandalorians and tell them the Republic is on to us, tell them to accelerate their plans. Tell them we will rally our own forces, that we will be here when they arrive." He told her, and she smiled cautiously, her grin turning to one of excitement.

"You think a battle is coming here?" she asked, and he nodded, showing his pointed teeth.

"Indeed I do. The Republic will know by now where we are and will be coming here with a fleet. But, when they arrive, they will find they have been anticipated. Soon now, a battle will rage on Dersonn III. We have the ships we need to take down a Hammerhead, we have more than enough ships to take down a task force. We have the security forces we need, and an entire legion of skyreapers. We also have collateral...the slaves. And with the Mandalorians coming here to get their troops from us, then we have everything we need to render the Republic dead in the water. The rest will arrive to find themselves anticipated, outnumbered and outgunned. They will confront us, and they will lose." He assured them getting to his feet.

"You really think a war is coming here to Dersonn?" Qui La asked, and he nodded.

"I do. They know my friend, they will be coming here with ships, troops, a desire to rescue the slaves, and what's more, they will be coming with Jedi." He said in excitement.

"So sir, what should I do?" the Krish asked, and Vuquoa took the small rock knife from the wall and flung it into the Krish's skull, killing him instantly.

"Learn how to knock and wait for an answer rather than trying to break down the door." He snarled, taking the bleeding blade and putting it back where it belonged.

"So, we've reached the end stage at last. The Crucible is ours now, and now we will consign it to the flames until we're ready to rise again. I'm still not thrilled with the threat of a Republic cruiser hanging in orbit, or a battle brewing on our capital before business is done, but I suppose we can deal with it. Our way. I'll call Mandalore." Qui La said, her voice turning to one of excitement as she reclined her massive form in her chair.

"And I'll prepare our forces. Up the production of skyreapers, weapons and armour, and get a hold of the bounty hunters, we'll take their ships too. Oh, and have someone capture those idiotic Ithorians. We need their ship, not them. Stick them in the pits too. I've got a fleet and army to prepare. For soon, a battle will rage, the flames of the Crucible will be fanned and best of all, Jarael and her little Jedi boyfriend will die!" Vuquoa vowed as he left the room, laughing just as much as Qui La was.

It was time for the Crucible's final stand. The Crucible would die in the coming battle, dead on the ground, lying in the blood of Zayne Carrick and the girl he was so foolishly devoted to. But unlike Zayne and Jarael...the Crucible would rise once more from the ashes, and return.

And this time, nothing would get in their way.

And as he entered the hangar levels, to see the true flagship of the Crucible, the ancient Sith _Derriphan _class cruiser _Blade of Ieldis_, he knew that this would be a fight to remember. The Republic would die. Slaves would die. The Crucible would be reborn. The Mandalorians would triumph.

And best of all, the Jedi, and most particularly Jarael and her lover, would die.

Yes, this battle was going to make for a damn good day.

XX

The atmosphere on the _Hot Prospect _was still tense. While they had both decided not to mention Jarael's belief that Zayne had been flirting, or Zayne's belief that Jarael was being unreasonable, they were still butting heads. However, unlike before when it was just them who were arguing and affected by it, now they had an entire planet full of slaves riding on their actions, so maybe arguing wasn't the best thing they could be doing right now.

"Alright, we clearly know that there are Crucible operations going on here, but we don't know where they're coming from, that's all I'm saying Jarael." Zayne said, and she sighed.

"I know what you're saying Zayne. But I still say we should go about it the way we did all the others, act like the Crucible until someone takes notice, then follow them back." She said patiently, and he shot her an exasperated look.

"And that would work, had we not pissed off the Crucible to such a degree that they're more liable to shoot any imposters. I'm just afraid that way won't work this time sweetie." He said, his tone mollifying, and she did sag a little.

"Alright, I'll admit you might have a point. But how else can we go about it Zayne? We're running out of time, and the Crucible has to be preparing for something." She said, and Zayne gave her a small smile.

"All we need to do is wait for the Force to do what is usually does to me and make my life a misery. I'm just saying we need to be a bit more careful this time ok? I'm getting a bad feeling here, something's coming, and I'm pretty sure it's to do with the Crucible, and if we aren't careful it'll be us trapped in the middle of it." He said worriedly, his eyes betraying his concern for her, and she smiled slightly.

"Alright, fine. So what do we do instead then?" she asked, and Zayne frowned.

"I don't know. But from what we've seen of the Dersonni, none of them know much about the Crucible. I reckon they don't even know that they could have a presence on the world." He mused, and she scowled.

"Zayne, we need ideas!" she nagged, and he glowered at her.

"Jarael, I know that, there's no point biting my head off just because we aren't getting anywhere fast." He snapped, and she did retreat slightly.

"Sorry. It's just...I don't know, we're so close, closer than I ever thought we'd get. You don't get it Zayne. Back then, back when Camper found me, I had abandoned the Crucible, and I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would one day be in a position to bring it down, to free all the slaves. I wanted to, but I didn't have the knowledge, the skills or the resources to pull it off, so I knew it was continuing, and I ran. But then, I met you, and you showed me we could beat them, save people from them, and we got closer and closer, and when Chantique and Bar'injar died, I thought we actually had won, all we had to do was bring the rest of them down, and we would have exterminated it forever. I never thought I would be able to see them brought so low, so close to being destroyed. And now, we're about to finish them off, the last two members of the Crux are the ones running the show, and if we take them out then we'll have won, the slaves will be free, and it's just frustrating to me that we're so close to getting them, but still so far away, that the slaves are still suffering because we aren't good enough." She said sadly, and then regretted it as she saw Zayne flinch slightly.

She walked over to him and gently stroked his cheek, feeling the tension melt away.

"Hey...I didn't mean you weren't good enough. After all, if it weren't for you, this wouldn't have been possible." She assured him and he grinned slightly.

"Thanks honey. And believe me, I do get it. See, I remember a kid who had a very powerful organisation against him, trying to kill him, making other people's lives miserable. He couldn't figure out how he was going to stop them either, they were too powerful for him. But, he found friends, got a beautiful girl out of it, and brought them down. Not quite the way he wanted, but believe me, I know how it feels to feel powerless against something much bigger and more powerful than you." He said, and she smiled and leaned her head on his chest.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. And for what it's worth, those friends and most of all that girl are quite happy he found them too." She assured him and he grinned, kissing the top of her head.

"Good." He said, and then stopped, frowning.

"Zayne?" Jarael asked, and he groaned.

"Gryph's curse has followed us." He complained, and she thought about it a moment, and then it clicked what he was talking about.

"Oh no. Not the Moomo brothers." She groaned tiredly, and he nodded.

"Unfortunately. And I've got a horrible feeling they're in trouble." He said darkly, and she sighed.

"Either that or they are the trouble. If the Crucible is after them, we won't have to do anything, they'll wreck it themselves!" she said excitedly, and Zayne grinned.

"Yeah, but it doesn't work like that. And would you really wish the Crucible on anyone?" he asked knowingly, and she shook her head.

"No. I would only have wished it on three people, and I know one of them would just come right back out again." She said, picking up her shockstaff.

"Who, Chantique?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah." She said quietly as they headed for the door.

"Who are the other two?" he asked curiously.

"Demagol of course, considering everything he had to do with them. And Lucien." She said with a slight smile, and he grinned as he opened the hatch.

"I can't believe we're about to go and rescue the Moomo brothers." He groaned, as the two of them headed off for the source of the trouble.

XX

"I get why they're trying to take you, but why are they trying to get me as well?" Del yelled, firing at a skyreaper angrily, sending the locals diving for cover as the bolt went wide.

"Because you're the stupid one! They're droids though, so they don't know which one's which!" Dob retorted, actually managing to shoot out a skyreaper drone.

However, another one simply took its place. As the two Ithorians fired at the swarming droids, their attention was drawn to the fact that a Sanyassan was heading up the boarding ramp into the _Moomo Williwaw_, and Dob's eyes widened in fury as he realised what was going on.

"They're trying to steal our ship!" he yelled angrily, as he and Del turned as one and began firing at the other couple of Sanyassans who were also trying to board their ship, the Dersonni clamps holding it in place lying broken on the ground.

"That's our ship, they're trying to steal our ship!" Dob yelled, breaking out of the coils of the skyreapers and running towards their ship, firing as they went, while the Sanyassans hurried inside, sealing the hatch.

"No, they can't, someone stop them!" Del bellowed, as the skyreapers coiled around his feet, tripping him face first into his brother, flattening the two of them as the _Williwaw_ took off without them.

"Idiot, this is your fault!" Dob yelled, punching Del off him while the drones surrounded them.

"My fault, you're the one who took the job in the first place, and now they have our ship too! And we're surrounded by droids!" Del retorted angrily, watching with savage pleasure as Dob was ensnared by a skyreaper.

"This is your fault, if you hadn't been so clumsy, we could have gotten onto the ship!" Dob shouted as the skyreapers began to drag him off.

"My fault? If these droids hadn't been here for you in the first place, we would never have left the ship to begin with!" Del snapped back as he too was ensnared.

The two Ithorians, trapped by the skyreapers, were still yelling at one another, while the frightened Dersonni ran towards them to assist, when a blue blade sliced Dob out of his predicament and the droid carrying Del went limp as electricity crackled all over it. There was then a blazing hum and the sound of clattering parts, and as the two Ithorians picked themselves off the ground they saw Zayne and Jarael leap into the throng of droids, slicing them apart or punching through them, leaving the droids to drop down to the floor in pieces.

"You!" Dob exclaimed excitedly, as he brought his blaster to bear, but Zayne simply rolled his eyes and with a gesture, grabbed their weapons from their hands and threw them off the landing pad, sending them plummeting out of sight.

"Make one more move, and I'll make sure your poor mother doesn't have any mentally subnormal grandchildren." Jarael warned dangerously, and both Moomos stopped squirming and looked balefully up at the two people they were being paid to hunt.

"Now boys, what would two 'fine' gentlemen such as yourselves be doing way out here, under attack by Crucible droids no less?" Zayne asked, waving off the concerned Dersonni who were trying to come over, but seeing the lightsaber they stood there patiently.

"Um, nothing." Dob said nervously, but Zayne just raised an eyebrow irritably.

"Really? Jarael, I reckon Dob should go first." He said, and she grinned, raising her staff.

"No, no, we'll tell you!" Dob cried.

"Big mouths!" Del hissed, but his brother glared at him, and Zayne put his saber in between them before they came to blows again.

"What is it Dob?" Zayne asked patiently, and the Ithorian sighed reluctantly.

"We were hired to do a job. Some bigwigs in the Crucible want you both dead and buried." He explained, and Zayne and Jarael exchanged looks.

"It has to be the two remaining Crux members, if they're hiring outside help, then they're definitely out for blood. The Crux aren't stupid though, they probably knew this pair would screw up, meaning they hired someone else. Talk." Jarael ordered, and this time Del answered, glowering sullenly as he did so.

"There were others, a Nikto, an Anoo-Dat, a pair of Twi'leks and a Wookiee." He answered reluctantly, and Jarael frowned.

"The Twi'leks, were they twins?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Looked like it, pretty too." He said, and she rolled her eyes.

"Poodoo, it's the Twin Suns." She grumbled.

"The Twin Suns? There was a holomovie Shad found once that...never mind actually." He said, going slightly red as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"They're bounty hunters, dangerous ones, usually only pick male targets, they seduce them, lure them in, then kill them. And I don't know who the other guys are, but chances are they're even more unpleasant, Vuquoa means business." She said darkly, and he frowned.

"No kidding, seven bounty hunters after us, even if four of them do work in pairs. So what did you two do wrong that made the Crucible turn on you, because those things were about to cart you off to join their ranks." Zayne said, giving Del a warning glance as he fidgeted too close to his fallen blaster.

"We didn't do anything, we were about to come after you two when their droids showed up and they stole our ship!" Dob protested whiningly, and Jarael grinned.

"Actually, even if they didn't realise how useless and stupid this pair were, that could be all they were after. An assault gunship like the _Williwaw_ can easily take a chunk out of even a _Hammerhead_ class cruiser, and if they're worried about the Republic coming after them, they might do just that." She reasoned, kicking Dob when he tried to pick up his blaster.

"Why though? We've not given them any reason to believe we're working with the Republic, the closest we've come is Dagary Minor or Osadia, and that was only using them as transport, so why worry?" Zayne asked, and she shrugged.

"Maybe they reckon us taking them on is some Republic operation, can hardly blame them in their line of business, anything like that they must be wondering if they're game is up, especially the way we've been hitting them. Not only that, it was a Republic operation that left their fleet without a commander, causing even more chaos. They're probably building up their fleet in case the Republic does come calling." She theorised, whacking her staff into Del's hand as he tried to get his blaster, making the Ithorian yowl in pain, and leading Zayne to wince in sympathy.

"But how much harm can they do? Fair enough we know the _Williwaw_ gives the commanders pause for thought but it won't deter them. Maybe if it was only a corvette or transport, but a cruiser of any sort they'd be screwed." He said, but Jarael shook her head, ignoring the bored looks of the Moomos as she did so.

"Zayne, do you think the _Gladiator_ was the extent of their fleet? They've got enough ships to rival a system defence fleet." She said patiently, and Zayne's eyes expanded in alarm.

"Wait, a system defence fleet is around twenty or so cruiser like ships! Why didn't you say?" he demanded irritably, and she shrugged.

"I assumed you knew, and considering the mess we got into with the _Gladiator_ I wasn't keen on engaging their fleet anyway. _Gladiator_ wasn't the only ship of its type, they have a fleet of them alone. Not to mention all the ships they scavenge or adapt, like transports which they then arm, and they have fighters and shuttles, and I even saw a Mandalorian dungeon ship once. Zayne, I've told you before, this isn't some paltry operation, these guys are deadly serious, they know what they're doing and they have the resources to do it." She said, and he glowered at her.

"I'm not stupid Jarael, I know how nasty this lot are, I just didn't expect them to have a large navy on top of everything else, ok?" he asked sharply, and she backed down slightly, feeling slightly bad, after all, she knew full well he knew everything they were capable of.

"Sorry. Aright, what do we do with this pair?" she asked in a bored voice, indicating the two grouchy Ithorians.

"Hand them over I guess, while we do some investigating. Here come the police now." Zayne said, nodding to the tall furry Dersonni all dressed in the pale grey uniforms of their peace corps.

"Sirs, madam, are you alright?" the leader, with red epaulets asked as he came to a stop, fingering his small hold out blaster.

"Nothing we couldn't handle. These two need to be placed in protective custody." Zayne said, smirking at the look of alarm the Moomos sent him.

"What is the nature of the danger?" the constable asked curiously, as his men took the blasters off the Moomos.

"There are slavers after them, dangerous ones, and they've already stolen their ship. They're also here on your planet." Jarael said, and constable looked at her in alarm.

"Slavers, here on Dersonn? I assure you my dear lady, that's quite impossible." He said stoutly, and Zayne pointed at the wreckage of the skyreapers.

"Really? Then where did they come from?" he asked casually, and one of the other policemen knelt down and poked at the droid wreckage.

"Hmm, sir, we don't use these, not in the police or the government." He concluded, and the constable looked at the two of them suspiciously.

"Hmm, perhaps you all better come with me, while we get this sorted out." He said, and Jarael and Zayne rolled their eyes at each other as the police led them back towards the city.

XX

While the Moomos were locked up and their weapons confiscated (their protests that they didn't mean any harm falling on deaf ears while adding assault on each other to their list of crimes), Zayne and Jarael were brought before the local commissioner and the constable. However, it was just their luck (good or bad Zayne didn't know yet) that the mayor was there at the same time, so now the two of them were facing the three impassive Dersonni across a long table.

"I still find your claims hard to believe young man, I don't see how a slaving operation could set up ship here on Dersonn III without us being aware." The mayor, a fellow with silver tipped fur and kind eyes by the name of Akira said grimly.

Jarael nodded.

"Believe me, you wouldn't be the only one who's been caught out. The Crucible is no stranger to hiding its tracks, they've had operations on planets like Coruscant and Corellia that have only recently been discovered." She explained, and Commissioner Balto, a fellow with black fur on his face, frowned.

"That may be dear lady, but we're only a small world, and only this gorge can be inhabited, I don't see how they could set up an operation the size you're talking about without us being aware." He said dismally, his voice slow and doleful.

"Aren't there any other places around here that could be used by the Crucible? Because you saw those droids sir, you say they aren't yours, and they definitely belong to the Crucible, which means they have a base here somewhere, we just need to find it, before things get out of hand. And now, they've stolen the _Williwaw_ and that ship is something you don't want anywhere near your city or your people, it would cause a hell of a lot of damage." Zayne warned, and the constable who had found them, Maugrim, frowned.

"As far as we know, the only places they could settle are the gorge itself, and arrogant though it sounds, I'm fairly confident we would know if they had moved into the city. From what you say, they must have a fairly large operation, and most of them would be offworlders, we would notice." He explained.

"We shall take your warnings under consideration, and we will send out patrol ships out to see if they can spot anything. We thank you for bringing this to our attention." The mayor said, and just as Zayne and Jarael got up to leave, Maugrim looked at the other two, and after receiving a small nod from the commissioner, he looked to the two offworlders.

"This Crucible, would it take people from a local populace?" he asked softly, and the two stopped and turned to face him, while the three Dersonni looked at them pensively.

"Probably, why?" Jarael asked cautiously, and Balto sighed.

"Recently there have been disappearances. Not just of ones like the homeless, but people out after night, people who live on the outskirts, there have been a few break ins, we were beginning to fear someone local was doing something awful, but the presence of your Crucible onworld may explain the disappearances." He said grimly, and Jarael frowned.

"You need to find out if they really are here then, otherwise you'll never see your people again, the Crucible are preparing for something big, and whatever it is, it's got them calling in all of their slaves and all of their forces, so whatever it is that they're up to is going to be pretty big." She warned, and the three Dersonni nodded.

"Thank you for warning us. We will keep you informed if we find anything. Be safe. If this Crucible are as powerful as you say, we cannot guarantee your protection." Akira warned, and the two nodded and bowed slightly before they left, leaving the three Dersonni talking among themselves.

XX

"So what do we do now?" Zayne asked as they returned to the _Hot Prospect_.

"I don't know. We can be sure the Crucible are here, and that they mean business, which to me means they're rallying their forces for whatever the hell it is that they're planning next. But either way, I reckon we're running out of time. This time they mean business, and I know Vuquoa, he isn't going to let any of this slide, he's going to want both our heads on a platter for everything we've done to the Crucible." She said grimly, and Zayne squeezed her hand.

"So we'll deal with it, just like we always do. What's his deal anyway, this guy?" he asked.

"He's a Ryn, he was sold to the Crucible by his own family. They probably expected him to be a pushover, but he became brutal, bloodthirsty, a true monster. He slaughtered his way through the ranks, and eventually joined the security team, killed the leader and then a Crux member so he could take control himself. And when he met other monsters like Chantique and Bar'injar he was right at home, Qui La is the weak link out of the lot of them, she isn't nearly as bloodthirsty as all the others were. It's probably Vuquoa who's behind all this, he's not stupid, he knows we're coming for him and he's going to want to stop us, which means he could have any sort of nasty idea up his sleeve." She said cautiously, and Zayne got up, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"It'll be alright. We've been worse off than this." He whispered and she smiled slightly, leaning back against him.

"True. Very true." She admitted, and he kissed her cheek.

"I'll go into the city, get some supplies, you be ok here?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah I'll be fine, the police have set up a cordon around the spaceport, they won't try anything unless they're really desperate. And I'll lock the door behind you." She assured him.

"I won't be long." He assured her, and headed off the ship, and true to her word Jarael locked the hatch behind him, she'd had enough experiences in someone else's captivity, she certainly didn't want to become a Crucible slave all over again.

She frowned to herself slightly. The Crucible was here, set up on this world, and they were clearly preparing for something big, she just didn't know what. And with Vuquoa and Qui La at the reigns, it was making her uneasy. Now that she thought about it, maybe she should have gone with Zayne. After all, there were bounty hunters after them, and while she had every confidence he wouldn't be taken in by the Twin Suns now that they knew they were hunting them, there were still other hunters out there who could be just as dangerous, not to mention a possible attack by skyreaper drones. She knew Zayne could take care of himself, but still, she was his girlfriend, she was entitled to be worried about him. And with Vuquoa, one of the deadliest creations the Crucible had come out with, gunning for him and her personally, she wasn't entirely keen on the idea of Zayne being alone.

She shook her head, she was getting paranoid. Zayne would be fine, absolutely fine. But she would still feel better if he came back and took her with him. A rattle on the door then disturbed her from her reverie, and after getting her heart back under control, she headed to it, feeling relieved.

"Good, I think I'll come with you instead...oh!" Jarael exclaimed in surprise as she saw who was standing at the bottom of the boarding ramp.

The man at the bottom of the ramp was taller than her boyfriend, was stronger, more haughty, and better built. Unlike Zayne, who had his nice soft brown hair that she liked to run her fingers through, he was bald, his head marked by two pale blue tattoos stretching over the back. He was clad in an armoured red jumpsuit, clinging to his strong body and a lightsaber hung at his waist.

"Malak!" Jarael exclaimed in surprise.

"Jarael, it's good to see you." He said with a smile as she came down the ramp, still slightly surprised by his unexpected appearance.

"And you, what are you doing here?" she asked, hugging him in greeting.

"Well officially, I'm here for the Revanchists, Meetra and Revan think that the Crucible is up to something big, and want to be able to stop it. Unofficially, I'm here to see you guys." He said cheerfully, and Jarael felt a little prickle of warning.

She liked Malak, she truly did, but as a friend, nothing more. If she hadn't fallen for Zayne, who knows, she may very well have gone off and joined him in his quest against the Mandalorians, but instead she had fallen for Zayne, the one who despite everything always came back for her and loved her for who she was and had been, not anything else, which she had a sneaking suspicion wouldn't apply to Malak.

"Well it's great to see you. You just missed Zayne, he's away for some supplies." She said, beckoning him into the ship.

"i'll see him when he gets back. Hey, you guys fixed this dump up good." Malak said, impressed and she smiled slightly.

"Thank Slyssk, he's the one who did it all. Zayne and I took it after Gryph opened his restaurant." She explained, and he smiled.

"Yeah, I was there after Demagol escaped from the Senate building, no thanks to Zayne." He said, and she shot him a dirty look.

"As we told you afterwards, you never had Demagol in custody, it was Rohlan, we had Demagol with us because he was trying to get his dirty mitts on me." She said angrily, and he grinned, patting the air to calm her down.

"I know I know, it's just the entire thing was a bit embarrassing for everyone, you guys because he was with you all along, us, the rest of the Jedi, the Republic, the entire thing was a mess. Zayne could have told me." He said, and she smirked.

"Oh, and you would have listened?" she asked, and he grinned.

"Good point. I tend to see red when I think of Demagol." He admitted, and she nodded.

"I can well understand that." She said in distaste, holding herself.

Malak stood, and made as if to hold her, but he thought better of it and leaned against the wall instead.

"How did you get here, did you bring half the navy out again?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"Nah, only the _Testament_, I left Telettoh at Ord Pardon overseeing the military base." He explained.

"How is the war going anyway?" she asked curiously, and Malak frowned.

"It's going better than it was, but it could be going better. I found out we lost Christophsis not long before I got here, and they're making moves towards Ord Pardon and Bothawui. Revan can't figure out what they're doing in this area though, if they had any sense they would be pushing their advantage into the Core, but I suppose things are slightly better for us if they arent. Anyway, how is Zayne, are you and he?" Malak asked hopefully, and caught offguard by the abrupt change in subject slightly, she soon smiled slightly.

"Zayne and I are fine thank you." She said curtly, but Malak wasn't entirely convinced, feeling a little flicker of something from her in the Force.

"But?" he asked leadingly, and she cursed the Force slightly, stupid Jedi senses, at least Zayne only used it positively in her opinion, like how to cheer her up, or other things that she hoped Malak wouldn't get a sense of.

"We've just been under a bit of strain, it isn't easy to take down the Crucible, and with insane hunters and slavers after us we've been kind of jumping at each other, but we're fine now." She assured him, not liking the slightly smug look that passed across Malak's face.

"Are you sure?" he asked gently, and she nodded.

"Yeah. I'm happy with Zayne, we're just stressed that's all. And speaking of Zayne, where is he?" she asked irritably, heading outside, leaving Malak feeling downhearted as he followed her.

XX

Hanharr watched from a distance as Zayne climbed off his swoop. As he had expected, Zayne had indeed stopped at the local relay station. After all, their rust bucket ship wasn't capable of transmitting far out of the system despite the modifications made to it, so it stood to reason that eventually either he or his girlfriend would come here eventually. And now, he was in Hanharr's sights.

The Wookiee had been following the boy since he had left the spaceport. With the Crucible betraying the Moomo Brothers, there were now only five hunters pursuing the boy and his offshoot, and he intended to be the one who brought in the bounty. Besakhar was currently plotting his next move from his ship, Vrak was sneaking around the town somewhere, and the Twins Suns were also on the prowl. He couldn't allow any of the other hunters to get their hands on Zayne, he would be the one to kill the boy and collect the bounty.

Hanharr raised his rifle as Zayne headed for the comm relay station. One shot and it would all be over. Feeling a thrill, Hanharr lined up his shot, feeling the anticipation of the kill, putting the middle of Zayne's head right beneath the guiding spot, and he fired, and he bared his teeth in victory as he did so.

The bullet moved faster than the speed of light, right on target for Zayne's head, but then, Zayne tripped, making him stumble. Hanharr gave a cry of dismay as the shot bounced off the station sign and ricocheted off down the alley, catching some homeless person in the head instead, and dropping his body into the trash bin he had been looking for. Hanharr looked at the dead body in alarm, and gave a furious howl as Zayne passed into the relative safety of the station. As people began to mill around the tramp he had unintentionally killed, Hanharr decided he had better make himself scarce, cursing his luck as he did so furiously.

XX

"Are you sure that was he sister?" Teer'aa asked her counterpart, and Seer'aa nodded.

"Yes sister. It was the handsome Jedi, he is here on Dersonn III. Now all we must do is find out where he berths his ship, and lie in wait for him." She said, and the two Twi'leks returned to the landing pad they had recently departed in order to locate Zayne's ship.

XX

Vrak snarled in frustration. Despite returning here to Dersonn, and indeed identifying the ship Zayne was using, he was still no closer to finding the boy before one of the other hunters did. He had initially thought of going after the girl, after all they were being paid an equal amount for her, however the presence of what looked like another Jedi was making him keep his distance. Which meant he was no closer to getting the boy or the girl than he had been when he started, and it was beginning to frustrate him.

What confused him was the fact that the Crucible was definitely here on the world, so why weren't they doing something about the presence of the boy? They knew the two who were causing them the most damage were here, so why weren't they destroying them when they had the chance?

There was something else at play here, that much was obvious. But what the Crucible could be up to he didn't know, but he was determined he wouldn't be stung when he found out.

XX

Besakhar frowned to himself as he studied Zayne through his binoculars. The boy and his girlfriend were intriguing true, but it was the girl he found most interesting. This girl was clearly an offshoot, yet another descendant of Arkanian tampering with their own biology. But she was something more, he could feel it. And curious though it was, she also attracted all strange beings to her side. From the file the Crux had on her, which was fairly considerable considering slavers weren't the best bookkeepers, Jarael had attracted absent minded geniuses, sadistic Mandalorians, con men, slavers and Jedi, the least of whom of course was her boyfriend. Besakhar smiled. Perhaps he should focus his attention more on her.

After all, he had seen the files. The boy had volunteered to bring down a slaving organisation, and had travelled half way across the galaxy, precipitating a ruse of a battle between the Republic and the Mandalorians in the process and had battled Chantique herself in order to save Jarael. The Anoo-Dat smiled in a predatory fashion.

Yes, if he got his hands on the girl, her knight would come running. And then he would kill them both.

XX

Zayne frowned as he waited for the connection to be made. With the _Hot Prospect _as dodgy as it was, he'd decided to save himself some hassle and just use the local comm station to check in with Gryph, who would most likely be panicking by now as he hadn't heard from them since before Dagary Minor. A few minutes later, the connection was finally made and the relieved Snivvian form of Gryph flickered into view.

"About time you called partner, we've been trying to get a hold of you for ages!" he scolded and Zayne smiled.

"Hello to you too. I figured you'd be worried by now." He said with a grin and Gryph scolwed.

"Damn right we've been worried, we've been trying to get a signal through to you for days, I don't even know how you managed to get this one, but we'll take it." He said, and Zayne frowned.

"Gryph what's wrong, why you so jumpy?" he asked, and the Snivvian sighed and looked at him in exasperation.

"You two are still on Dersonn III right?" he asked, and Zayne nodded.

"Yeah, we're trying to find out what the Crucible is up to here, they're even hiring bounty hunters to stop us now, including the Moomo Brothers." He said in disdain, and Gryph was temporarily thrown by this information.

"I thought these guys were meant to be scary, and they hire those idiots? Anyway, never mind. Partner, you and Jarael need to haul ass off that planet." He told him, but Zayne shook his head stubbornly.

"No, we can't, we're close to finding out where they are so we can stop them once and for all." He said, and Gryph looked at him in exasperation.

"Well you can stop. Because you and Jarael are on their capital, it's their new homeworld, Dersonn III as far as we can tell is the last known base of the Crucible." He intoned, and Zayne went white.

"Wait, what?" he asked worriedly, and Gryph sighed.

"You pair lucked onto their throneworld. The Jedi tracked all their operations on the planets you found, only to find them all up and leaving for Dersonn III. You're where the Crux are, and if they are hiring bounty hunters, that means they mean business Zayne. Get out of there, now." He advised him and Zayne looked at him in alarm.

"I left Jarael alone, I never would have left her behind if I knew we were on their homeworld." He said in alarm, getting to his feet.

"Hey, slow down kid, you've got bigger problems!" Gryph called and Zayne looked at him miserably.

"I'm not going to like this am I? What could be worse than stumbling onto the Crucible homeworld when their leaders are wanting to put our heads on a spike?"

"You hit them hard Zayne. With Chantique snuffing it and Bar'injar going with her, and that guy killing himself on Dagary Minor, the other two panicked. They recalled all of their slaves and sold them to the highest bidder, which just happens to Mandalore. That's why the Mandies hit Christophsis and are moving for Ord Pardon and Bothawui, they're going to Dersonn to take all the slaves from the Crucible. And because of what the Crucible does to its slaves..."

And then the true extent of the danger they were in hit Zayne. The Crucible headquarters was here on Dersonn. Vuquoa and Qui La were both here, lording over the downtrodden and despondent slaves, and they had hired lethal hunters to kill the two of them. The Crucible, hunted and losing their leadership, along with massive profits, ships and crops of slaves, panicking, had sold their slaves to the Mandalorians. And because the slaves were made to fight, the Mandalorians wouldn't just be freeing slaves, they would be freeing troops. And because the slaves wouldn't know the Mandalorians had bought them, they would willingly join them out of gratitude, giving the Mandalorians an instant army...which they would then of course let loose against the Republic forces, and the Republic would soon be pushed back with a swarm of around ten thousand or so slaves.

Zayne swore under his breath. One day he was going to find some way to talk to the Force, and then he and it would be having serious words about his luck. Finding the Crucible, doing so well, he should have known the other shoe would soon drop, and now it had, he couldn't help but think this was the worst break they had ever gotten. To next to bring down the Crucible only to directly endanger the Republic, doom the slaves and get themselves on the Crucible homeworld where hired killers were looking for them, this break stank.

"Great, that's great. We've doomed the freaking Republic." He said, and Gryph shook his head.

"Now don't panic partner, the military is on the way. Malak is already heading there apparently and some of the others are heading to stop them. We can't let the Mandies get their hands on the slaves or you're right, the Republic is screwed. Zayne? Can you hear me?" Gryph asked anxiously as Zayne had frozen up and was staring into nothing.

But Zayne was seeing everything. The sky aflame with burning lights. Debris pelting the world, massive steaming craters in the ice cap. The flash of lightsabers, the ring of blasterfire. Bombs and grenades destroying the Dersonni city. Snow falling from high locations as ships shot into the air and war droids hammered into the ground, firing as they did so. Soldiers of all sorts battling it out, while droids sped through the ranks killing at will. And then, a collapse, as tons of snow cascaded down into the gorge, all but destroying the Dersonni civilisation, and taking all the armies along with it...

"Oh no." Zayne whispered and Gryph looked at him worriedly.

"You just had one of those vision thingies didn't you? What did you see?" he asked worriedly and Zayne, still very pale, shook a little as he turned back to his friend.

"The battle. All of the fighters, Republic, Mandalorian, Crucible, the fight dislodged all the snow and ice above the avalanche and causes a massive avalanche which destroys the city and all the troops, and even before that it didn't look like it was going well. I need to warn Jarael." Zayne said and Gryph nodded.

"Too true. Malak ought to be there by now actually, you can warn him of what you've seen. Then get off that planet!" Gryph urged and Zayne grinned.

"Oh, like you did on Serrocco?" he challenged and Gryph scowled at him as Zayne signed off.

"Hey, he called collect the bugger!" Gryph protested as Zayne fled from the building.

XX

"Are our forces holding position near Ord Pardon?" Mandalore asked over the holo, and Cassus Fett nodded.

"Yes Mand'alor. Our forces are ready to move as soon as we take Dersonn III. We've also taken Christophsis and are preparing to attack Bothawui. The Republic dogs won't suspect what we are truly up to until it's far too late." He assured his ruler, and Mandalore nodded.

"Good. We've paid a lot of money Cassus, to both the Crucible and the Hutts. We've come too far now to have them undo us now." He said, and Cassus nodded.

"Don't worry Mand'alor, we leave within the hour for Dersonn with the fleet. We also have the Crucible fleet when we arrive should the Republic outsmart us, but they don't stand a chance. All they have at Dersonn so far is one solitary cruiser, which won't last long under our guns. Once we leave, we will launch the attack on Bothawui, and have the warriors that took Christophsis head to reinforce the fleet preparing to attack Ord Pardon. Once we deal with Dersonn and take the slaves for our own, the new fleet following us will be outfitted with the new troops and we will all head to rendezvous with the fleet for Ord Pardon, and once we arrive, we'll take down the last Republic military base for parsecs and have our way into the core. This battle will be the key to the Mid Rim Mand'alor, before the week is out, we'll be on our way into the Core." Cassus vowed and Mandalore nodded.

"Very well. See to it Cassus, I know you won't fail me." He said as he flickered out.

Cassus then turned to his crew, the command crew he had handpicked to command his _Kandosii_ class Dreadnaught, the _Gratua_.

"This is it, today we expand our forces exponentially, and we will be within the Core within the month. Sornell, signal the fleet to make the jump to Dersonn III. The beginning of the end of the war starts today, with our new recruits, we will make Republic blood flow at Ord Pardon. Onward to victory! Ke nu'jurkadir sha Mando'ade!" Cassus bellowed, and with war cries, Sornell sent the message to the rest of the fleet and the other four Dreadnaughts, backed up by _Kyramud_ battleships, _Jehavey'ir _assault ships, _Teroch _gunships and _Shaaklar_ troopships began to form up around the _Gratua._

They had made a bargain with the Hutts, entailing that once the Crucible had gone into hiding, the Mandalorians would give any other slaves that the Hutts bought to them at cost. In exchange, they had given the Mandalorian fleet permission to travel through Hutt space, using their secret routes to avoid all Republic forces and get to Dersonn before anyone would even think of them being there. And if they did, well their fleet when combined with the Crucible's, would be more than adequate to annihilate anything the Republic threw at them.

Cassus grinned beneath his helmet as the fleet jumped to lightspeed, bound for Dersonn and the beginning of the end for the Republic.

XX

"I'm worried about him, he's been gone far too long." Jarael said nervously as they stood in the shelter of the ship's ramp, as there was a bitter wintery blast whipping the landing pad.

"Zayne will be fine Jarael, trust me, he can look after himself." He assured her calmly.

"I know he can, but serious people want us dead Malak! The Crux want him dead, and they'll kill him to get to me, I know they will!" Jarael said desperately and Malak gently held her face, allowing him to wipe away the frustrated tears in her eyes.

"Hey, it will be alright, I can feel it." He assured her softly.

She sighed and looked at him sadly.

"Wish I had your confidence. How do you know it will be alright?" she asked softly, and Malak smiled.

"I just do. Trust me." He said and gently moved his head in, and to her immense surprised, kissed her.

Jarael broke off a few seconds later, shocked, and Malak was as shocked as she was, looking very nervous and embarrassed. He opened his mouth and was about to say something when the blood suddenly drained from his face and Jarael knew that only one thing would make him go so pale as that.

And she turned, devastated, hating herself, hating Malak for making it happen to be confronted by Zayne's crestfallen, betrayed, disbelieving face.

**Well well isnt that an unexpected turn of events? Poor Zayne, will he even listen to Jarael after this?**

**But their tumultous love life is the least of their worries. As Gryph has said, Dersonn III is about to become a battleground between the Republic, the Crucible and the Mandalorians, and trust me, the Crucible has a fair bit stashed away for events such as these. Not to mention Vuquoa is one nasty piece of work and will be out for revenge, and the hunters are getting ever closer.  
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**So, next chapter, the battle begins! We have a ruse of Zayne's, we have to settle things between Zayne, Jarael and Malak, as events come to a head at Dersonn III. Will Zayne's vision come to pass? Who will win the coming battle? Will reinforcements arrive in time? Events are on the move and the final battle is upon us.  
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**And I know this took ages for me to write, I started doing this chapter over Christmas but my uncle died recently and that sort of derailed things, but here we are now, and hopefully the next update won't be as long, so until then please read and review!  
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